Just three per cent of New Zealand properties sold in the first three months of 2016 went to non-residents, new data shows. A total of 1,158 properties were sold to buyers who provided Land Information New Zealand with an overseas tax residency, while 1089 of home purchases did not involve New Zealand residents.

A private property developer has set up a scheme to help struggling home buyers into Auckland's crazy housing market. Ockham Residential has launched a shared equity scheme whereby owner-occupiers of its apartments can get an interest-free, 10-year loan equal to 15 per cent of the purchase price.

Buying an apartment can be cheaper than renting in Auckland's hot property market, new figures show. "There's a perception in the Auckland marketplace that first home buyers have been locked out," Pete Evans, Collier's national director of residential project marketing, said.

Auckland residential property sales volumes have fallen to the lowest April level in four years, according to the city's largest real estate agency. There were 944 sales in April, which was down 12 per cent on the same month in 2016 and down 30 per cent on March's figure, Barfoot & Thompson said. The agency said its 1,496 new listings in April were down 5.3 per cent from a year earlier and 20 per cent lower than March.

Credit agency Veda has released new data that shows mortgage applications are up 11.6 per cent year-on-year. But the rate of application for personal loans and new credit cards has slowed.

Nearly 12,000 first or second-home buyers in Canterbury will have access to National's KiwiSaver HomeStart grant over the next five years, Housing Minister Nick Smith says. Smith and Social Development Minister Paula Bennett were in Christchurch this week, partly to detail the Canterbury component of the new housing policy for KiwiSavers.

More than 200 first home buyers in Marlborough have bought their house using the Government's HomeStart scheme. Kaikoura MP Stuart Smith said the biggest challenge for young people getting into home ownership was pulling together funds for a deposit.

The New Zealand government should follow Australia's lead and stop foreign investors buying existing houses, the Labour party says. NZ Labour housing spokesman Phil Twyford says Australia requires foreign property investors to build new houses.

Plunging inflation expectations could lead to interest rates being cut to a record low within a month. On Tuesday the Reserve Bank released its quarterly survey of expectations, which showed expectations for inflation over the next two years plunging to a 22-year low.

The run of recent rate cuts may be over. On Thursday the Reserve Bank will review the official cash rate (OCR) for the first time since Governor Graeme Wheeler cut the benchmark rate to a record low 2.25 per cent. It was the fifth interest rate cut in the last seven OCR reviews.