Kerre Woodham: If my boss told me to sell my shares or I'd lose my job, I'd sell my shares

Political journalists and commentators have been having an absolute field day over the past 18 hours dissecting the downfall of former Transport Minister and Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood.

Wood had been on notice since it was revealed he had failed to sell his shares in Auckland Airport, a clear conflict of interest for a Transport Minister.

Barry Soper: Michael Wood's behaviour went from unacceptable to plain dishonest

Sacked Labour Cabinet Minister Michael Wood is either so stinking rich that he doesn't know which trust he's stashed his cash in, or he's just plain dishonest.

The latter's much more likely when it came to his embarrassing performance over his Auckland Airport shares.   

On no fewer than a dozen times, he was asked by the powerful Cabinet office whether he had dispensed with his shareholding.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Michael Wood cannot come back from this

The scales have just tipped for Michael Wood, haven’t they?

He cannot come back from this, his time as Transport Minister has got to be over.

We've just learned in the last two hours that the Cabinet Office didn’t ask Michael Wood half a dozen times whether he’d sold his shares yet.

It was a dozen times. That’s right, 12 times.

Brian Gaynor: Houses and shares deliver a decade of growth

Houses or shares, which is the best investment?

This is a recurring question in New Zealand, although the two asset classes are difficult to compare because they have totally different characteristics, particularly in terms of leverage, maintenance costs and income flows.

Nevertheless, the figures in the table show that New Zealand house prices appreciated 1.8 per cent in 2018 while Auckland prices rose by just 0.1 per cent. These figures are compiled by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).