Housing

Stats NZ said the number of residential building consents issued in September was 20 percent lower than the previous year.

A slip knocked this red-stickered house off its foundations - the skew is not the camera - but that did not stop it being a very hot property over the weekend.

The January deluge caused damage to around 2000 state homes, including 205 in the southern Auckland suburb of Māngere.

More than 1000 Gisborne properties have been removed from the list of flood risks.

Nine homeless people in Rotorua have rejected offers of help - and could face being trespassed from the city's reserves.

After two years of petitioning her council landlord to replace her deteriorating windows, pensioner Mary Smith's home is warm and draught-free.

Nelson residents have to wait another six months for decisions on buyouts of their homes that were destroyed by floods last year.

First home buyers are leading a rebound in the housing market - accounting for a record 28 percent share of market purchases.

The country's housing market is showing more signs of growth with asking prices rising for a second consecutive month.

Iona Pannett's comments come after a Wellington heritage building was gutted by fire after more than 20 years of wrangling over the owner's earthquake strengthening responsibilities.

An owner of a flood-damaged Auckland home is appalled at the council's communication about whether it is safe to live in.

Some Auckland residents with flood damaged homes are worried the proposed buyouts will leave them paying off debt for homes they will no longer own.

ASB's economist says the results tracked with recent data shows the market is stabilising - and he expects it to continue warming up.

Fletcher Building shares are expected to fall when they resume trading on Monday as investors turn wary amid wildly differing estimates of the cost of leaky plumbing pipes in West Australia.

Some Hawke's Bay residents forced from their whenua after it was destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle may soon have a temporary place to call home.

Plans are underway to house some of the thousands of extra workers who will be brought in to rebuild crumbled roads and bridges in Hawke's Bay and Tai Rāwhiti over the next few years.

Confidence is emerging in the property market, and there are signs of an upward trend, says the Real Estate Institute.