Building consents for the Bayfair retail expansion at $6.0m and $6.8m, and two $8 million consents for retail developments at Tauranga Crossing have boosted commercial building consent issued by Tauranga City Council in March to $38.7 million.

The amount is a huge increase on last month's $9.2m and also well ahead of the $23.3m in commercial consents issued in March 2017.

There were also $1 million and $2.2 million consents for industrial buildings at Tauriko, and a $1 million plus retail/apartment development at 297 Maunganui Rd.

Building consents issued by Tauranga city council in March are valued at $94.4m, nearly twice last month's $48.9m and also more than the $77.2m in consents issued in March 2017.

'It's been a bit of a see-saw so far this year for building consents issued by both Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council, with little consistency from month to month,” says Priority One communications manager Annie Hill.

'Tauranga had a strong January and a weak February, however bounced back again in March - while Western Bay were the complete opposite. This demonstrates building consents can fluctuate considerably month to month, so a more accurate picture of longer term trends will emerge over the next few months.”

The $94 million in consents issued in March is the fourth highest in a month over the last two years. Commercial consents at $39 million area a significant contributor – the second highest monthly total in two years.

While there was an increase in the number of new dwellings being built in March compared to the previous four months, there was a decrease in their overall value from February, which was the two-year high.

'After setting a record two year low for the value of consents issued in January, Western Bay picked up considerably in February issuing nearly twice this value to reach $28 million,” says Annie. 'However, March saw a slump in value and number, however not to the extent experienced in January. The number and value of new residential builds is holding steady.”

For the calendar year to date, Tauranga City Council issued 14 per cent more in value than the previous record in 2017 and Western Bay issued 9 per cent less. However, overall the combined Western Bay sub-region was 8 per cent ahead in terms of the value of consents issued for the first three months of the year.

Single dwelling consents for March are valued at $41.2m, ahead of February's $32.4m but slightly less than the $46.4m in single dwelling consents issued in March 2017.

The number of single dwelling consents was 117, more than last month's 86 but less than the 124 consents issued in March a year ago. The two year high was 135 consents issued in February and June 2017, while the low was 54 single dwelling consents issued in December 2017.

There $2.8 million consent for the redevelopment of the Mount Lifeguard Service building is the biggest government and community consent issued in March.