Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of NZ ("REINZ") shows there were 140 more farm sales (+65.7%) for the three months ended December 2011 than for the three months ended December 2010.

Visitors to New Plymouth Airport in the next few weeks will see a lot of work taking place above and below ground.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) data on the New Zealand housing market for December 2011 showed 5,316 unconditional sales for the month, up 919 sales (+20.1%) compared to December last year. The December transactions figure is the best December result since 2007.

There is good news for landlords across much of the country with rental demand from tenants up 13% on a year ago, according to the latest analysis of Trade Me Property's house rental listings in the three months from October to December.

Auckland has overtaken Central Otago Lakes as the least affordable region to buy a house, Massey University's latest home affordability report shows.

The Auckland housing market finished the 2011 year strongly, with the average December selling price climbing to $573,071, up 1 percent or more than $5500 on November's average price, and the second highest average sales price for the year.

New housing approvals show a gradually rising trend for the eight months to November 2011, Statistics New Zealand said today. However, numbers remain close to the recent historically low levels.

The QV price indices for December show that New Zealand residential property values continued to gradually increase, rising 2.4% over the past twelve months. Nationwide values are now 3.5% below the previous market peak of late 2007. New Zealand property values in 2011

New Zealand's major cities are heading towards a shortage of homes for sale in the New Year following a significant drop in the number of new listings that came onto the market in December, says Realestate.co.nz.

An ongoing shift to large format Mega stores and an increased national footprint are bringing results for Mitre 10 as the hardware retailer has surpassed its rivals to become the No. 1 revenue generator in the sector.