New Zealand's central bank has announced new mortgage regulations for lenders, requiring them to hold more capital against loans to residential property investors, in an attempt to curb risky lending as house prices hit record highs. From October 1, residential mortgage loans will be broken down into investment and non-investment categories.

Treasury secretary John Fraser has warned that Sydney is "unequivocally" in a housing bubble, as the latest data shows annual growth rates picking up again. Mr Fraser raised concerns that having interest rates at historically low levels was encouraging people to over-invest in real estate.

Home values across Australia’s major metropolitan cities have recorded a fall of nearly one per cent for May, but the drop is likely to be short-lived, according to CoreLogic RP Data. Values across the capitals fell an average of 0.9 per cent, dropping 1.7 per cent in Melbourne, 0.8 per cent in Brisbane and 0.7 per cent in Sydney. Values dropped 0.2 per cent in Adelaide, 0.5 per cent in Perth and 2.7 per cent in Darwin.