The members of a new Rules Reduction Taskforce to cut red tape in the property sector have been revealed.

Almost half the first-home buyers in the Auckland market are getting help from their families – and a growing number are opting to make their first purchase an investment property, new statistics show.

Auckland was the only part of the country with any significant increase in rents last year, new Crockers research shows.

Auckland homeowners are being told not to panic about a possible correction in house prices.

The Christmas-New Year sales break did nothing to dampen Auckland house prices, the city’s biggest real estate agency says.

Oyster Group’s latest property syndication has closed early, oversubscribed.

Smaller cities and provincial centres are starting to pick up some of Auckland’s property market momentum, the latest QV statistics show.

Building consent numbers eased less than expected in December.

Housing affordability decreased nationally by 14.1% over the year ended November 2014, the latest Massey University Home Affordability Report shows.

Up to 2000 houses will be sold as part of the Government's revamp of social housing, and the number of people receiving income-related rent subsidies will increase by almost 5%.

Most investors are planning to increase their rents over the coming year, but not by much, new research shows.

Rents will have to go up across the board at some point, the executive officer of the NZ Property Investors Federation says.

OCR increases are off the table for now, economists say.

Rents are lagging a long way behind house prices, the latest Trade Me rental price index shows.

Making more land available for development isn’t the complete solution to the New Zealand housing affordability problem, the NZ Planning Institute says.

Plans to dramatically reform the Resource Management Act have been revealed.