Fletcher Building has met its guidance with a five per cent gain in full-year earnings before one-time charges, as strong growth in its biggest market of New Zealand offsets a weaker performance in Australia and the rest of the world. Its shares gained 1.6 per cent to $NZ7.70.

Life insurers have paid out more than $1 billion in claims for a fifth year in a row. But the rise in payouts has been outstripped by rising premiums for certain kinds of insurance.

Auckland house prices could suffer a sharp fall if funding markets were disrupted or economic conditions weakened, Standard & Poor's (S&P) says. The global ratings agency downgraded the stand-alone credit profiles of New Zealand's four biggest banks on Friday.

The Reserve Bank is "gutless" for failing to penalise a single rule-breaking bank over the last decade says a banking expert. Banks have breached their conditions of registration at least nine times over the last five years, with comprehensive records not collected prior to 2009.

New Zealand house prices epped up to an unseasonally high volume in July, although there was a pause in the rocketing upward trend for Auckland prices. Auckland's median house price fell by 2.6 per cent to $NZ735,000 ($A659,607), compared to June, according to the latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

The New Zealand dollar has taken a further hit after China's central bank devalued the yuan for the second time in two days. New Zealand and Australian shares fell and world oil prices were down.

An Auckland woman has lost her house over an $11,000 unpaid rates bill. Charlotte Marsh's three-bedroom Manurewa home was sold at a High Court-ordered auction on Wednesday after she refused to pay rates to Auckland Council for five years.

Auckland's blistering house prices could soon be exported to the cities of Hamilton, Tauranga and Whangerei, mortgage brokers fear. This week, BNZ will be the last of the big Aussie banks to introduce tough lending rules for investors which are designed to curb house price frenzy.

Warring spouses are deliberately delaying their divorce settlements in order to cash in on soaring house prices. The surging property market, which rose by 10 per cent nationwide in the past 12 months, is causing valuations to go out of date before the ink is dry on divorce papers.

New Zealand residential property prices have risen at the fastest pace in eight years, driven by the overheated Auckland housing market. They're now about 27 per cent above the previous market peak in late 2007, according to state-owned agency Quotable Value. National property values accelerated 10.1 per cent in the 12 months through July to an average $NZ527,760. ($A476,360.68)