INNER-CITY living in central New Plymouth is booming, with increasing numbers of professionals leaving the suburbs for central apartments.

Preventive action is the best move for property owners and tenants worried about their options should a brothel or backpacking business be set up in a building they own or occupy, according to law firm Phillips Fox.

Real estate agencies predict a housing boom for surrounding suburbs with the development of the Mt Wellington quarry.

New Zealand investors, who have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into CDO-backed funds recently, are being warned that these new fangled fixed interest investments are quite different to more traditional income assets.

The latest housing consent figures provide yet more evidence of how hot the property market is running.

Do-it-yourself weekend builders could be hammered as the Building Act is toughened in response to the leaky home issue.

Property buyers have suddenly discovered Christchurch's forgotten seaside suburb, New Brighton.

The house-building boom is the strongest it has been since the 1970s, and Wellington is getting a big boost from new student flats.

The Nelson region is running out of cheap houses, latest real estate figures confirm.

Wanted: Three to four bedroom house in the much sought-after Elmwood Normal Schools area of Christchurch. Money available: $600,000. Problem: No one wants to sell.

From an exporter's point of view, the New Zealand dollar has started going for broke.

The residential housing boom was back on the Herald front page on Tuesday with the bold headline "Homes selling at record speed".

Fixed term mortgage interest rates have continued to increase, according to the latest mortgage interest rate survey conducted by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

In real estate, when you hear the expression “wholesale price”, be careful. Like many of today’s property scams, the wholesale spiel is a play on words.

There is one question that every wrapper, or supporter of wrapping, always seems to sidestep. It is a question that goes to the heart of the wrapping debate. The answer to this question effectively destroys any argument in support of wrapping. At least, on ethical grounds. The question is this: What happens to the buyers (the wrappees) if the investor (the wrappers) fail to pay the lender on the ‘head’ loan held by the investor? The answer is that the buyers lose what they thought was their family home. Plus their deposit. Plus all their payments. Plus any money spent improving their home.

Muriwai Beach - home to 1000 gannets and 1400 people - is the latest coastal village to feel the hot breath of the property boom.