Massive Action property mentor Dean Letfus has declared himself bankrupt following the collapse of his business and property investment empire.

The average weekly rent rose 7.4% in the year to June 2011, and 35% of New Zealand households made rent payments over that period.

Expectations that house prices will rise have fallen over the October quarter, and less people believe now is a good time to buy a house.

Almost three times more mortgagee properties came to market this year than before the global financial crisis in 2007.

A portfolio of 10 properties – eight of them with tenancies in place – will be auctioned by Bayleys in what the estate agent has described as one of Auckland’s biggest residential portfolio sales.

Bursting the housing bubble – and making homes more affordable – will not be achieved by a capital gains tax, claimed ACT leader Don Brash.

Sorting out the slum landlords from the star landlords is what Bruce Gordon and Matthew Souden hope to achieve through their Tenancy Support website.

The national median house price rose by $9,000 in October and sales were up almost 30% on the year earlier, according to the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) report.

REINZ rounds up the sales numbers, open home volumes, prices and days to sell data from across the country.

Wellington and the Hutt Valley have again topped the BNZ-REINZ Residential Market Survey for investor activity, with 37.9% of real estate agents reporting investors active in the market.

Here are details about how to buy the NZ Property Investor Magazine Cashflow Forecaster CD featured in today's Sunday Star Times.

The popularity of rental property among investors has hit an almost 10-year low, according to the latest ASB Investor Confidence survey.

National property values continued to gradually rise across the country and are above 20007 peak levels in parts of Auckland, according to the QV residential property index for October.

QV's regional round-up of the country reveals where prices are up - and down.

The arrival of spring has seen a modest increase in interest in the Auckland housing market with more homes listed, the average price edging up though the number of sales fell slightly.

Property sales rose in October despite the Rugby World Cup, school holidays and confidence issues negatively affecting buyer enquiry levels, according to First National’s monthly residential property survey.