Fourteen houses in Lingham Cres, Torbay, were evacuated on Wednesday after a landslide wrote off one house and led to three others showing signs of movement.
North Shore City Council workers turned off the gas, electricity, sewage and water supply to the area.
Mayor Andrew Williams said engineers had drilled holes into the saturated hillside to drain away water, which was pouring out at 300 litres an hour today.
The ground had moved another 700mm yesterday and Mr Williams said that, after further geo-technical investigations, residents would be told what the chances were of getting back into their homes.
"Much of it is dependent on how much water they can continue to take out of the hillside because it is the water-pressure building up and creating the subsidence."
Most of the evacuated residents had been staying with friends and neighbours, Mr Williams said.
If they were not allowed back for some time, their insurance companies and the Earthquake Commission would be part of a more permanent arrangement.
Mr Williams said the council was putting as many resources as it could into stabilising the slip.
In west Auckland, the residents of four houses evacuated yesterday because of a slip returned today with engineers to assess how to stabilise those properties.
The houses are on private land in Birdwood Rd, Swanson.
A Waitakere City Council spokesman said the houses were not considered to be in danger from the slip, with measured 50m across and 30m deep.
The slip reached to within eight metres of one house, which was evacuated yesterday morning as a precaution.
After further rain yesterday, the three other houses were also vacated.
