At Georgie Hoby Scutt's front door are stashed sets of keys, last minute make-up, sunscreen and pairs of shoes in three different children's sizes. It's the unavoidable paraphernalia of parenting and Georgie wants it hidden. So the designer has taken it upon herself to create a solution, one that also gives her an outlet for her creativity and a chance to grow a business.

Aucklanders are more worried about their finances than Wellingtonians and Cantabrians, new survey data shows. The biennial New Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS) is the largest social survey Statistics NZ carries out after the census, questioning 8,795 people. It finished in March of this year. Aucklanders were the most likely to be just scraping by, with 26.7 percent rating themselves as having "only just enough money", compared to 20 percent of Wellingtonians and 23.8 percent of Cantabrians.

Mark Honeybone from Property Ventures interviews Real Estate Investar founder David Hows in this informative podcast. It's a great listen, check it out!

Property investors facing a looming lending crackdown borrowed $1.8 billion in April, or a third of all new mortgages issued. Earlier this month both the Government and the Reserve Bank announced measures to tackle property speculators, which come into force in October. The Reserve Bank will require Auckland investors to put down a 30 per cent deposit, while forcing banks to hold more capital against the loans nationwide.

Ten days ago, National hoped the big reveal on cracking down on quick-flicking property speculators would have a chilling effect on this very hot potato. But the overwhelming reaction by market analysts to the impending residential property rule change, merely underscores its timidity and inadequacy. It may have amounted to one of National's more circus-like flips, flops and pirouettes on capital gains but it's not going to lead to the retreat of offshore buyers gaming the New Zealand housing market.

First time home buyers are better off in the Manawatu/Whanganui region than anywhere else in New Zealand, according to new figures. Palmerston North and Whanganui are among the most affordable cities in New Zealand for first timers, with Whanganui at the top of the list.

Major banks have dropped home loan rates, with more cuts on the horizon as official interest rates are tipped to head lower next month. Over the last three months, market-leading mortgage rates have fallen by as much as a quarter of a percentage point. This week the country's biggest bank, ANZ, cut all its standard mortgage rates, some by as much as three quarters of a percentage point.

The Government and Reserve Bank have stepped up efforts to cool the Auckland housing market, but critics say it won't stop foreign investors fuelling the fire. On Sunday, Prime Minister John Key announced a law change to firm up and better enforce the existing capital gains tax on speculators. The Reserve Bank is also moving to force Auckland investors to front up with a 30 per cent deposit, while relaxing rules outside the country's biggest city.

The Government could be poised to announce joint ventures with big overseas developers to build large swathes of new developments Thursday's Budget is expected to hold more announcements about Auckland housing, a message underlined by Finance Minister Bill English who this week said the Government stood ready to free up more Crown-owned land to ease Auckland's pressures.

Major banks have dropped home loan rates, with more cuts on the horizon as official interest rates are tipped to head lower next month. Over the last three months, market-leading mortgage rates have fallen by as much as a quarter of a percentage point. This week the country's biggest bank, ANZ, cut all its standard mortgage rates, some by as much as three quarters of a percentage point. The bank was following the lead of Kiwibank, which reduced three of its fixed rates and is leading the market with its one year term of 5.39 per cent.