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Welcome to Today in Business - Powered by Spark for Business, an experimental AI podcast by the New Zealand Herald. Each weekday, we bring you five stories, the best of the New Zealand Herald business journalism, summarised and delivered by an AI voice as an easily digestible recap. It's Thursday, October 2, 2025, and here are five stories you should know about. Barfoot and Thompson reports a sharp drop in Auckland house prices, despite a rise in sales volumes. The agency sold one thousand and thirty-two residential properties last month across Auckland, Northland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty, up 21 percent from 889 in August. But the median price fell by 20 thousand dollars to 930 thousand. That figure is now 25 percent below the peak median of $1.24 million recorded in November 2021. Unsold listings remain high. In other news, ExxonMobil's future in New Zealand has been highlighted in Australian media reports. The Australian newspaper says the company could be open to discussions about offloading its New Zealand assets, though ExxonMobil has not placed the business on the market. A spokesperson for ExxonMobil New Zealand says the company does not comment on market speculation. The company owns the Wiri Oil Service business in South Auckland, additional terminals in Mount Maunganui, Wellington, Christchurch and Bluff, and operates a nationwide network of more than 150 service stations through agents and dealers. Meanwhile, airports have welcomed the Government's new freight action plan, an updated national freight demand study, and a freight advisory council. The New Zealand Airports Association says major investments are already underway, including Auckland Airport's new cargo precinct and Christchurch Airport's expanded freight apron, which will accommodate up to eight narrow-body or four wide-body aircraft. NZ Airports chief executive Billie Moore says these initiatives will better connect projects with freight businesses. The plan will be led by NZ Transport Agency. Elsewhere, a Christchurch man has been sentenced over tax offending. Frederick Mario Mau Epiha received 10 months' home detention after pleading guilty to 16 charges in the Christchurch District Court. Inland Revenue says Epiha's company, Redemption Solutions Limited, failed to pay more than 215 thousand dollars of workers' PAYE between August 2022 and April 2023. The department says the offending was deliberate and repeated despite warnings. Redemption Solutions was placed into voluntary liquidation in April 2023. The court also heard Epiha previously managed Asia Pacific Group Limited, whose director was sentenced in 2024 for similar PAYE offending. And the High Court has penalised an Auckland real estate agent, and her husband, for breaching the Overseas Investment Act. The penalties so far amount to nearly $1 million. Land Information New Zealand says the couple bought three Auckland residential properties on behalf of overseas investors without consent, using shell companies to conceal foreign involvement from China and Hong Kong. The court ordered the pair to sell properties acquired unlawfully, with additional penalties pending. One Saint Johns property sold in 2022 for three point five million dollars. Another Mission Bay property remains under development. That was Today in Business - Powered by Spark for Business - your NZ Herald daily business summary. For the best in business, subscribe to Herald Premium at nzherald.co.nz.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.