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.

The bank shaved 10 to 15 basis points off its 18-month, two-year, four-year, five-year and seven year fixed terms. None of the resulting rates were market-leading. At the same time, BNZ hiked its two- and three-year 'specials', sweeter deals which come with various strings attached.

Other parts of the country have overtaken Auckland as growth engines of the housing market, the latest real estate industry figures show. New record median prices were set in Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Nelson/Marlborough and Otago as the market strengthened in December, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

There is further evidence that higher prices for housing outside Auckland are on the cards this year. The Real Estate Institute (REINZ) said the pace of selling outside Auckland and Canterbury/Westland, the two main population centres, was picking up fast.

Jonathan Tepper, a UK based economist and founder of research house Variant Perception, is convinced Australia is in the midst of "one of the biggest housing bubbles in history". The Australian Financial Review reports about how he and local hedge fund manager John Hempton scoped out the apparent epicenter of this bubble, Sydney's western suburbs, and walked away thinking it was even worse than they'd originally thought. It's a fascinating story. In a subsequent report to clients, obtained by Fairfax Media, Tepper outlines his views with a host of data. "The Australian housing bubble could not have become as ridiculous as it is without the help of easy financing," he writes.