Current planning laws are “explicitly designed to drive up housing values”, Finance Minister says.

GUEST COMMENT: Studies show no great benefit from public funding, such as the programme our government is poised to unveil in a fortnight.

GUEST COMMENT Budget 2013 makes good progress in reducing New Zealand's debt, but lacks the big ideas for driving growth. Here are 10:

HIDESIGHT I believed people couldn’t be left alone to do as they please: they were too greedy, the market too capricious, resources too precious and the planet too fragile.

MOTORING This is a tale of two Honda Accords.

Here's a real-life example of a recent property I have tracked for sale in Auckland. It's a tale of sale price expectation that runs ahead of the market - something that's endemic in Auckland.

Sales are up, they are slightly stronger and yet they were down!

Coming up next month are two films which deal with social, political and personal issues of living in Israel.

Nearly 50 artists from a dozen countries feature in the fifth triennial, which focuses on the way we think about, and adapt to, our living environments.

There will be consultation with banks in coming weeks on adding details of the policy into its Banking Supervision Handbook.

COMMENT The state of the Asia Pacific region is a mix of worrisome stories and heartening tales.