The next few months offer a good opportunity for first-home buyers as investors take a breather in Hamilton's property market.

Wellington retailers are forking out hundreds of dollars more for rent each year than their Auckland counterparts. New research from Colliers International shows that Wellington retailers are paying $1257 gross per square metre to rent prime space in the central city, while Auckland-wide retailers are paying $1017 net per square metre.

A horror mortgagee sale mix-up has resulted in a woman losing all her possessions. Her home was sold after she missed payments on the mortgage, but a case note from the Banking Ombudsman scheme reveals, the bank brought forward the settlement date without telling her.

A group representing apartment and unit owners is concerned about the misuse of drones to peep into people's private lives. Strata Community Association NZ backs the use of drones being used to inspect high rise residential apartment buildings across the country.

Four people have been charged in relation to alleged mortgage fraud involving home loans worth about $60 million. The Serious Fraud Office has laid more than 100 charges under the Secret Commissions Act following an investigation into more than 70 home loans allegedly deceptively obtained from two banks.

New Zealand buyers may have lost some of their "must buy now at all costs" mentality. Realestate.co.nz spokeswoman Vanessa Taylor said some of the urgency had come out of the housing market, as she released her site's statistics for September.

New Zealand's property market seems to be in a holding pattern as investors and home-buyers wait to see what will happen next. Property data firm MyValocity has released its latest report, which shows double-digit house price growth in much of the country, particularly in centres around Auckland. Tauranga's house prices are up 27.8 per cent, year-on-year. Hamilton was up 26.4 per cent. Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch were up 8 per cent, 12.9 per cent and down 0.5 per cent respectively. READ MORE: Sellers wait for a premium while buyers take their time: Realestate.co.nz James Wilson, a valuer at MyValocity, said there had been a flock of investors to the regions when the Reserve Bank imposed stricter lending rules on Auckland investors. Now that a 40 per cent deposit is required wherever they are in the country, he said it would take time to see what effect that had. "It is harder to see where they are going. We we can really see is the 'wait and see' approach has come back into play, investors are holding fire to see what the market does, what happens to prices and days to sell," he said. "It doesn't necessarily mean we are going to see the market go down, just that activity levels are dropping off. There's still low interest rate sand low supply but house prices will hold their own until activity comes back in." Nationwide, the number of investors and movers in the market dropped slightly over the past three months, while first-home buyer numbers remained constant. MyValocity said Aucklanders were driving a lot of the growth in Tauranga, which had become sought-after by retirees, investors and homeowners who wanted to find more affordable property. Its properties are now selling at an average 35.7 per cent above their CV and there are now almost as many investors in the market as there are first-home buyers. Wilson said that was probably partly driven by the fact that "Forty per cent of an investment in Auckland versus 40 per cent outside is a far lower sum." Hamilton had also been a popular option for Auckland homeowners looking for cheaper property, the MyValocity data said. There, investors are a bigger part of the market than first-home buyers. Dunedin has also benefited from being an affordable spot - more than 90 per cent of sales there are going for less than $600,000.

Recent migrants to New Zealand are sharing rooms with strangers to save money in Auckland. Most advertisements seeking flatmates in Auckland for what would be considered cheaper rent, under $130 per week, are for spaces with two single beds, in a sparse bedroom or curtained-off corner of a communal living area.

Middle class Aucklanders are becoming "disenfranchised" by the cost of housing in the city, according to prominent businessman Michael Stiassny. Stiassny, who is chairman of Vector and senior partner of KordaMentha, told an Auckland University Business School panel on Monday that Auckland's property market is undermining the sustainability of the city.

Nearly 80 per cent of renters across New Zealand lack the resources for a home deposit, according to new figures which Labour says shows many Kiwis are locked out of the market. However, Housing Minister Nick Smith says the numbers are "no surprise", and have not significantly worsened in recent years.