The number of residential and commercial building consents issued for Rotorua properties continues to go up.
Rotorua Lakes Council's Economic Growth Portfolio lead and deputy mayor, Dave Donaldson, said an increase in residential and commercial consents was a very encouraging trend.
"Our Consents Solutions team has been run off its feet processing growing numbers of building consents, and handling a big surge in requests for LIM (land information memoranda) reports about properties."
"These are welcome signals of a local economy on the move and, when combined with other recent indicators like record GDP growth, surging visitor statistics and a reversal in net migration, give us cautious optimism that our economic future is looking much brighter," he said.
"For me, I've been impressed by how many people and businesses are showing an interest in coming to Rotorua - to relocate for lifestyle reasons, or as visitors, or to invest in business. I've had talks with a number of investors in recent weeks who are looking seriously at new investment in our district."
"However there are now questions being asked about the availability of 'greenfield' residential and industrial sub-division land," Mr Donaldson said.