Landlords are liable for damage to houses accidentally caused by their tenants, according to a New Zealand Court of Appeal decision in a long-running insurance case. The court has this month ruled in favour of Kenji and Teiko Osaki in a battle that has gone through NZ's Tenancy Tribunal, District and High Courts.

Christchurch company director Jo Scott was taken aback by a recent letter from Kiwibank asking if she was an American and whether her company had financial links to the US. She isn't and her company doesn't.

More curbs could be poured onto the housing market if house prices within and outside Auckland continue to strengthen. A rebound in March housing figures has economists speculating on whether the Reserve Bank will beef up the current "loan to value" ratios or even bring in a new set of restrictions.

The Reserve Bank is blocking attempts to find out whether Graeme Wheeler's advisers supported his decision to raise interest rates in 2014.

Asking prices for houses with five or more bedrooms have hit a record $1.03m, a near-19 per cent jump in the last year, according to Trade Me's latest figures. The results agree with Real Estate Institute data this week showing sales of $1m-plus homes rose 27 per cent in the year to March.

Rapid growth of the workforce, boosted by new migrants, women, and older workers, has helped create strong economic growth over the past four years without driving up inflation, the Reserve Bank says. “Recent low out turns in consumer price inflation can be mostly explained by falls in commodity prices and the high New Zealand dollar, but the higher productive capacity of the economy from rapid growth in the labour force also explains some of the weakness in inflation,” Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Geoff Bascand said in a speech today at Otago University, in Dunedin.

New Zealand property value growth continued to slow in March, although the trend may be coming to an end, according to state-owned valuer QV. The average value of a New Zealand home rose at an 11.4 per cent annual rate in March to $NZ559,492 ($A504,683), slowing from February's 11.6 per cent pace and January's 12.6 per cent rate, QV said.

The median sale price for a house in Auckland rose 12 per cent last month from a year earlier as both sales volumes and new listings fell, according to the city's largest realtor. The median price rose to $NZ798,000 ($A717,400) from $NZ711,000 ($A639,187) in March 2015 and was up 8.1 per cent from February, Barfoot & Thompson said.

Planning to put your house on the market soon? Real estate experts say there are a number of common mistakes vendors make that can cost them serious money and slow the sale process significantly.

New Zealand residential building consents climbed 11 per cent in February, led by increased construction intentions in Auckland as the country's biggest city tries to house a swelling population.