"We're really seeing that uplift in residential infrastructure. That's very encouraging as that's really important here," Mr Coker said.
Western Bay of Plenty Certified Builders president Mike Way said he and other builders had been flat out in recent months.
"We have seen people starting to struggle to get the right tradesmen at the right time. There's a lot more inquiries," Mr Way said. "It's a bit different to the last few years. Before we were managing if we were going to get work, now we're managing time frames and expectations."
The Lakes managing director Scott Adams said there had been up to 70 houses being built in the subdivision at any one time during the past six months.
"We're about to release approximately 100 more titles in July, which will then trigger the start of building over the next 12 months," he said. Mr Adams put the increased interest in building down to a combination of the recent LVR restrictions, which meant a 20 per cent deposit was required to buy an existing house but only 10 per cent was needed to build, and rising interest rates.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dave Burnett said he was not surprised the number of new residential consents was high.
"It goes hand-in-hand with what's happening on the commercial side with businesses relocating here," he said. "People moving into the area need to live somewhere.
"Builders are getting hard to get. People are moving in from Auckland. That's helping drive that demand for housing and particularly new housing."
Mr Burnett said there seemed to be much more confidence among the people in the Bay of Plenty than in the past few years.
