A woman hung a noose around her neck and cut herself with a knife during a more than three-hour roof-top standoff with police in suburban New Plymouth yesterday.

North Shore real estate agents are breathing sighs of relief after two people who targeted open homes in a three-month spree were convicted of theft.

Rival banks will be out to woo thousands of customers from the newly formed ANZ Bank and National Bank, with some predicting the banking giant will lose "several per cent" of its market share.

Q. I have signed an unconditional agreement to buy an industrial property in Penrose.

Housing prices inevitably fall back to what's realistic for the overall economy, writes Brian Jameson.

A new student lodge in Christchurch, a Queenstown university and a new Queen St office block in Auckland are some of the latest projects which property investor and author Dolf de Roos says he is involved in.

You may not be able to house grandma in the backyard.

The Nelson City Council will be reviewing how rates are spread across the district following new property valuations which could cause rates to skyrocket in some areas.

The national median house price remained steady at the record $215,000 level, which was 16.2% up on September last year, and activity picked up its already frenzied pace, the number of houses sold rising from 10,193 in August to 10,687 in September which compares with 7,943 in September last year.

Additional funding is to be provided for tenancy services provided to landlords and tenants so they can keep pace with significant growth in the rental housing sector, Housing Minister Steve Maharey said today.

Property investment advocate Dolf de Roos has joined Reserve Bank Governor Dr Alan Bollard in warning investors about going too deep into debt.

Landlords have won the right to charge thousands of Auckland tenants an extra $540 a year to cover the full cost of water services.

Marlborough's real estate market has taken a breather as median house prices dropped eight percent last month from August's record high of $209,000.

The housing boom appeared to stabilise in September with median house prices steady on $215,000 and Auckland increases slowing.

Q. My company is the tenant of several floors of a multilevel office block. Our lease is old and has been running for 15 years already.

Mortgage broker Mike Pero has not seen any sign of people heeding Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard's warning about the housing market.