Favourable tax treatment for rental property investments helped prolong the housing boom and further inflate property values, benefitting high-income investors and squeezing out low earners from the market.

The Reserve Bank has left its official cash rate unchanged at 2.50% today and has indicated that it is likely to stay at this level for "some time".

A round-up of leading economists take on the RBNZ decision to leave the OCR on hold.

House prices are set to rise by 4% this year, boosted by the RBNZ decision in March to cut the OCR, according to Westpac.

The housing market is building momentum, though from a low base, with cuts in mortgage rates and displaced persons from Christchurch entering the market playing a role, according to the latest ANZ Property Focus.

More investors are in the market looking for properties, though their numbers lag behind first time buyers who are finding a warmer welcome at the banks, according to the inaugural BNZ-REINZ real estate survey.

Guidelines around new laws governing the buying and selling of unit title developments have been issued by the Department of Building and Housing (DBH).

Residents quitting earthquake stricken Christchurch are soaking up excess rental capacity in both North and South Island towns, according to First National Group.

A war of words has erupted between SuburbWatch's Kieran Trass and the Real Estate Institute (REINZ) after Trass attacked REINZ in the wake of the release of its March data.

The recent recovery in the housing market highlighted by the REINZ March data is "not a flash in the pan that will fade," and may mark the start of housing market recovery, according to BNZ economist Tony Alexander.

Trade Me property figures have revealed that while Auckland landlords are spoilt for tenant choice, the picture is less rosy across the rest of the country.

Auckland recorded more than 50% more house sales in March than February, and 11.4% more than in March 2010, according to the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) figures.

The REINZ report signalled that house values picked up in March, but according to JPMorgan's Helen Kevans, "we suspect there is limited upside to house prices in the very near term."

The REINZ March 2011 regional commentaries

Inflation is the "Gorilla in the room" increasingly making its presence felt, and as interest rates rise, now is the time to fix your mortgage rate, according to Tower Investments CEO Sam Stubbs.

The man behind a property scheme that promised home ownership to vulnerable Kiwi's has been sentenced at the Auckland District Court of breaching the Fair Trading Act, fined $237,048 plus $42,764 in repatriation.