Would-be investors are being warned not to put too much faith in peer-to-peer lenders. There are now four platforms operating in the New Zealand market: Harmoney, Squirrel Money, LendMe and Lending Crowd.

House prices could start to fall by 2018 as debt-fuelled spending starts to catch up with the Kiwi economy, Westpac has forecast. The bank is forecasting that "real" house prices will drop by 1.4 per cent in 2018 as a tiny price rise fails to match the rising rate of inflation.

New Zealand's Reserve Bank will hold off introducing new measures to tackle the bubbling housing market for now, but says it will keep a close eye on things. The central bank has highlighted the rise in house prices and stubbornly low dairy prices as risks to the country's financial stability.

23-year-old who's nabbed himself a house in the hot Auckland property market has proven the masses wrong by "doing, not whinging", says his mortgage broker. Ryan Daum made a few sacrifices to put down his $50,000 deposit on the three-bedroom Papakura home, but it all became worth it when the house became his own five weeks ago.

Just three per cent of New Zealand properties sold in the first three months of 2016 went to non-residents, new data shows. A total of 1,158 properties were sold to buyers who provided Land Information New Zealand with an overseas tax residency, while 1089 of home purchases did not involve New Zealand residents.

A private property developer has set up a scheme to help struggling home buyers into Auckland's crazy housing market. Ockham Residential has launched a shared equity scheme whereby owner-occupiers of its apartments can get an interest-free, 10-year loan equal to 15 per cent of the purchase price.

Buying an apartment can be cheaper than renting in Auckland's hot property market, new figures show. "There's a perception in the Auckland marketplace that first home buyers have been locked out," Pete Evans, Collier's national director of residential project marketing, said.

Auckland residential property sales volumes have fallen to the lowest April level in four years, according to the city's largest real estate agency. There were 944 sales in April, which was down 12 per cent on the same month in 2016 and down 30 per cent on March's figure, Barfoot & Thompson said. The agency said its 1,496 new listings in April were down 5.3 per cent from a year earlier and 20 per cent lower than March.

Credit agency Veda has released new data that shows mortgage applications are up 11.6 per cent year-on-year. But the rate of application for personal loans and new credit cards has slowed.

Nearly 12,000 first or second-home buyers in Canterbury will have access to National's KiwiSaver HomeStart grant over the next five years, Housing Minister Nick Smith says. Smith and Social Development Minister Paula Bennett were in Christchurch this week, partly to detail the Canterbury component of the new housing policy for KiwiSavers.