The hot streak continues for the Bay with the region's number one overall rank including number one in house prices, retail sales, guest nights and consumer confidence, according to the ASB Regional Economic Scorecard.

'The key drivers of the strong Bay numbers remain in place. Kiwifruit (and horticulture) exports remain buoyant,” says chief economist Nick Tuffley.

The Bay of Plenty has been named the top region for the fifth straight quarter.

'Similarly the housing market is charging ahead on both the price and construction fronts.” Nick says tourism is the other shining light, and this is where Rotorua gets to join in on the rest of the Bay's economic party.

Guest nights are up a bumper 26 per cent for the year.

'While we don't want to rain on the Bay's parade, we are starting to see signs of housing market excess.

'On that front, and with new housing market restrictions on the way, we caution that the current house price gains can't last forever.”

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller has welcomed the ASB Regional Economic Scorecard which confirms the Bay as NZ's top region for the fifth straight quarter.

'We are experiencing an unprecedented boom. It wasn't that long ago where we used to look at other regions growth with some jealousy, now we have led the country for well over a year. It is quite astounding when you think how fast Christchurch and Auckland are growing at the same time - but we are still beating them.

'We are number one in house prices, retail sales, guest nights and consumer confidence. This reflects a number of things including the recovery of the kiwifruit industry and performance of other local export sectors, the level of highly skilled people and the capital that is pouring into the region,” says Todd.

'What's really exciting is to have the conditions in place for this boom to continue for quite some time, but we all must remain focused to enable that to happen.

'There are a number of things that are happening to ensure the continuity of our growth. Priority One and local Councils are working through our future settlement plans, we have housing developments going full tilt and the Government has invested hugely in underpinning infrastructure like Ultra-Fast Broadband, State Highways and schools, with more investment signalled.

'Collectively we all need to keep at it. When the demand to be a part of our community is insatiable, it means that you have to work even harder to keep supply going.”