More and more Kiwis are choosing apartment over houses. In this High Life series, Homed explores what that means for the way we live.

New Zealand real estate agents charge up to three times as much commission as those in Australia, the UK and US - and now those in Auckland earn up to $10,000 more for the same, or less, work as a decade ago. Is our commission model broken? Morgan Tait asks if one of the country's most contentious industries is about to be disrupted.

I doubt even the success of the recent LookSee initiative has been enough to stave off what I now see as the inevitable. In this business, perception is reality and the perception is that Wreda is not working. I have no doubt it has the ingredients for success, so why has it not been more visibly successful? What happened from the merger of Grow Wellington, Positively Wellington Tourism, Destination Wellington, Positively Wellington Venues and Major Events?

Everybody loves Auckland. Wherever you go in this country, people just love to talk about it. "I never get sick of hearing about Auckland," they will say, "the people there are great". You don't even have to reveal that you're an Aucklander. You can be in a cafe in Wellington, or a pub in Timaru, or a mountain hut. Right out of the blue, they'll just start raving about Aucklanders and everything they like about them – the way they talk, the way they dress, the things they do with their money.

Buyers may be sitting on their hands but prices are holding steady at Auckland's biggest real estate agency. Barfoot & Thompson said the number of properties sold in Auckland in May was low compared to previous years but prices had not dropped.

Some relief for Wellington's housing shortage could come from new apartment blocks in Thorndon and Tawa, but questions are being raised over the affordability of the proposed extra homes. The sites – at 3 George St, Thorndon and 4 William Earp Place, Tawa – have been earmarked by the private owners as new potential Special Housing Areas (SHA). Deputy Mayor Paul Eagle, chairman of the council's housing taskforce, said many councillors wanted to see developers with SHAs include affordable housing in some of their future plans.

Developers are being asked to step up to help solve Wellington's housing crisis by redeveloping inner-city buildings into social housing and affordable apartments. Community housing providers are also being urged by Wellington City Council to convert existing under-utilised buildings.

New Zealand's financial system is sound but housing market vulnerabilities remain a key risk and the central bank still wants to curb high debt-to-income lending if necessary, it said in its twice-yearly financial stability report.

A major retirement village operator is eyeing a former teachers' college campus, while a community group is concerned that could turn the suburb into "God's waiting room".

Wellington's housing bubble has deflated as lending restrictions and election jitters combine with the traditional winter sales slump to trigger a drop in buyer demand.