If you have moved out of a rental property recently, did you reclaim your bond? The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has revealed about $2 million is left in unclaimed bonds each year.

The start of the new year has meant a rent rise for tenants around the country. The latest Trade Me Property Rental Index shows the national median asking rent increased from $420 to $435 between December and January, after very little change through 2015.

Falling interest rates: Good news for borrowers but not so good for anyone who is relying on money in the bank. After the Reserve Bank's surprise move to cut the official cash rate to 2.25 per cent last week, banks were criticised for being slow to pass on the reduction to home loan customers.

New Zealanders are back to asking for more money when selling their homes after a summer slump in the housing market, according to new data from Trade Me. The average asking price for homes on the online auction website rose 1.6 per cent in February, and nine per cent for the 12 months previous, bringing the national average asking price up to $NZ550,600 ($A488,000).

Labour leader Andrew Little has stepped up his attacks on the big banks, threatening to force them to cut interest rates if they don't pass on cuts by the Reserve Bank.

The New Zealand Reserve Bank has unexpectedly cut the official cash rate to a record low 2.25 per cent. Governor Graeme Wheeler trimmed the official cash rate by 25 basis points on Thursday and signalled in his monetary policy statement that more cuts were possible.

Wellington houses are selling well over rateable value, and in some cases almost double their worth. In one case, a house in Tiber St, Island Bay, with an RV of $560,000 sold recently for $1,000,001. Real estate agents from around the region say there is no sign of the market slowing down, meaning one thing – house prices are set to rise even more.

Wellington City Council is set to become a bigger player in the property market after councillors voted to get the ball rolling on an urban development agency for the capital.

The tide is turning in favour of the Reserve Bank cutting official interest rates. New Zealand's official cash rate is expected to stay at its record low this week, but the Reserve Bank is expected to signal a cut in the coming months. On Thursday Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler will review the OCR and deliver his first full set of economic forecasts for the year.

Fiona Snijder helps Aucklanders balance their budgets, which is tough in a city with sky-high rents. A woman of faith, Snijder, from the West Auckland Budget Service, is not given to despair in the face of hardship. But the arrival of a letter from the landlord announcing a rent rise can leave some even the most optimistic of her clients despairing for their futures.