The New Zealand government has introduced a bill aimed at tightening rules and scrutiny of property investors, including requiring them to provide their tax numbers and have a local bank account. The Taxation (Land Information and Offshore Persons Information) Bill, introduced on Monday by Land Information Minister Louise Upston, amends the Land Transfer Act and the Tax Administration Act to help Inland Revenue enforce the tax rules for property.

The $30 billion New Zealand Superannuation Fund is the best performing sovereign wealth fund over the past five years, generating returns of more than 17 per cent a year. Those returns easily beat all other sovereign wealth funds that publish their figures, according to a global study by JP Morgan. In the last three years alone, the fund returned an average of 21 per cent a year.

Investors in conservative KiwiSaver funds have been warned that their run of spectacular returns is at an end. Investors in conservative and default KiwiSaver funds, which are heavily invested in cash and bonds, have seen remarkably high returns in recent years, but in its first quarterly investment report, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) warns that is about to end.

A "state housing prefab unit" that arrived in an upmarket Christchurch neighbourhood overnight has residents considering legal action. The relocated house was delivered to an empty section in the Travis Country Estate in Burwood one night last week, to the surprise of many residents. It sits on the site propped up on struts and may be joined by a second house. The Christchurch City Council granted resource consent for two.

The average asking price for apartments and units in Auckland has crossed the half-million dollar mark, according to Trade Me Property figures. Trade Me's Property Price Index for May shows the door is continuing to close on buyers trying to get their foot on the property ladder with less than $500,000 to spend. Trade Me property boss Nigel Jeffries said Auckland continued to surge and was yet to show signs of slowing down.

Banking bosses are considering a plan to tie home loans to buyers' incomes in a move that could shut the young and the poor out of the house market. Concerns have been mounting over the skyrocketing Auckland property market, with a decision to lower interest rates on Thursday adding more fuel to the fire.

The Reserve Bank expects house prices will rise at a slower pace in coming years as increased construction helps ease supply constraints, and measures to curb property investors take some of the heat out of the Auckland property market. The bank anticipates measures to impose lending restrictions on property investment loans and more rigorous taxation of speculative investment will suppress house price inflation in the first year of their implementation.

New Zealand banks are moving quickly to lower mortgage lending rates after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut its official interest rates. Kiwibank, ASB and ANZ have dropped mortgage rates after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 3.25 per cent from 3.5 per cent on Thursday. Kiwibank has reduced its variable and revolving rates from 6.65 per cent per annum to 6.40 per cent immediately for new customers and in two weeks for existing.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points and is signalling more cuts could be on the way. Governor Graeme Wheeler cut the interest rate to 3.25 per cent - the first reduction in interest rates since January 2011.

KiwiSaver has converted us into a nation of bank-owners. Not only do the big KiwiSaver balanced and growth funds hold chunks of local bank shares, they also hold chunks of the listed global banks too.