The tide is turning in favour of the Reserve Bank cutting official interest rates. But there are wide differences on when it may happen - as soon as next month or not for a couple of years. ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie said he now expected the Reserve Bank to cut by 25 basis points in June and cut again in July. There was little point in waiting till the second half of the year before cutting rates to manage the "emerging economic risks".

Auckland's housing market continued to strengthen in April, but a shortage of listings is becoming a concern, according to Barfoot & Thompson. New figures from Auckland's biggest real estate agency show fewer house listings for the Auckland market as winter approaches. Demand for properties in April was the highest it had been for the month in the past decade, with 1070 sales.

Finance Minister Bill English announced the Government is proposing to increase Inland Revenue's resources to target people profiteering out of Auckland's housing market. The announcement hints that the increased funding will be allocated in this month's budget.

The $99 plus GST "transport levy" Auckland Council is going to impose on households, on top of already large rates increases, may lead to higher rents. The levy, when added to planned rates rises, means Aucklanders' rates bills will go up by 10 per cent on average next year. Some homeowners in leafy inner-suburbs face rises as high as 15 or 16 per cent.

Fletcher Building has reiterated its forecast for full-year earnings and capital spending to be at the lower end of its guidance range. Operating earnings before one-time items would be at the lower end of the range of $NZ650 million to $NZ690 million ($A625 million to $A663 million) in the 12 months ending June 30, the building products and construction group said.

A typical first-home buyer in Auckland - a working couple in their late twenties - is likely to be spending over half their income on mortgage repayments according to a new report. The AMP360 Home Loan Affordability Report for March showed surging house prices in Auckland may also be stopping existing home owners from moving up the property ladder.

New Zealand residential property values have accelerated at their fastest monthly pace in at least 10 months as demand for housing in Auckland drags the country's real estate prices higher. National property values rose 8.3 per cent in the 12 months ended Thursday, accelerating from a 7.7 per cent pace in March, according to state-owned valuer Quotable Value.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has kept the official cash rate unchanged at 3.5 per cent at its latest review, but is signalling a cut may be on the cards. Governor Graeme Wheeler has dropped a reference to the possibility of rate hikes he made last month at the monetary policy statement.

New Zealand home building consents rose in March, snapping three months of declines, with increased intentions to build townhouses, units and retirement villages. Seasonally adjusted dwelling consents climbed 11 per cent to 2,175 in March from a month earlier, the biggest monthly gain since April 2013, and turning from a 6.5 per cent fall in February, according to Statistics New Zealand.

It will take an extra 76,000 houses to bring Auckland into line with household sizes in the rest of the country, an economist has suggested . BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander says there have been various estimates of the size of the city's housing shortage, ranging from 12,000 to 13,000 by the Salvation Army, to about 22,000 by the Department of Building and Housing in a 2009 report.