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)

Claims foreign buyers are increasingly snapping up Auckland houses have been further debunked, with data indicating only a fraction of visitors to a popular real estate website are Asian. Figures released by website realestate.co.nz reveal about five per cent of all online traffic viewing Auckland property between January and April were primary speakers of an East Asian language.

House building is still slowing in Canterbury, where more than new 23,500 homes have been consented since the start of the earthquakes. Figures from Statistics New Zealand show councils in the region approved 544 homes in June, 13 per cent fewer than a year ago. The average value of the consents was $334,500.

The number of new homes consented in June fell more than 4 per cent on the previous month, according to Statistics NZ figures. The fall in June followed a flat result in May, though figures have been weaker mainly because of the ups and downs in the apartments sector, economists said. But consents for individual homes also dipped slightly in June.

House prices are high in many urban centres, but the costs of owning homes has gone through the roof too. Figures from Statistics New Zealand show general inflation was 19.8 per cent since Mid-2006, but the costs of ownership have risen far faster, with maintenance costs alone having gone up by nearly 35 per cent.

They both work, they already own an investment property and they've got help from family, but they are still struggling to get into their first home in Hamilton's spiralling market. With more interest rate cuts set to follow this week's round, experts say it's only going to get harder for people like Richard and Rohani Alexander to get into the property whirlwind being fanned by Auckland buyers and cheap borrowing.

Interest rates are on the way back down again. Home lenders are already starting to sharpen their knives, with many of them passing on the Reserve Bank's cut in full. The juicy deals look tempting, but only fools rush in. Economists are expecting two to three more cuts by the end of the year, which means there might be more fat to trim yet.

Wairarapa's property market is finally showing signs of warming up as Aucklanders look for more affordable homes elsewhere. Prue Hamill of Harcourts Hamill Realty said that even though winter was traditionally a quiet time the sales numbers in Wairarapa were looking encouraging and they had sold several properties recently to Auckland and Australian buyers, some of whom had been looking to purchase multiple houses.

Labour has made a "complete botch" of its housing data, says the Government, calling it the "oldest and dirtiest political trick in the book". Housing Minister Nick Smith said he will not be basing housing policy on people's surnames. On July 11, Labour's Phil Twyford released figures based on house sales data from 3922 Auckland sales from February to April.

Two New Zealand opposition parties, Labour and NZ First, are demanding a register of foreign property buyers as the row over offshore Chinese investors rages on. Labour leader Andrew Little says New Zealanders need to know exactly how many houses are being snapped up by foreign speculators.