There are continued signs of a booming economy in Tauranga, with building consents soaring to record proportions.

According to Priority One statistics, Tauranga City Council has issued a massive 31 per cent higher value of building consents for the current calendar year than the previous record set in 2017.

And just over $113 million worth of consents were issued last month, the second highest value ever for the month of May.

There was also an increase in the number of consents for new residential dwellings in Tauranga, $46 million for 115 new builds – the highest value so far in 2018.

Commercial consents reached the second highest value for a month over the last two years, at nearly $50 million. This included eight large consents valued at over $1 million each.

Community consents were also the second highest value for a month in two years, with two large consents issued for a new primary school at Pyes Pa and the seismic upgrade of a building at Tauranga Hospital.

Building also prospered in the Western Bay - $21 million in consents and closing the gap between the same period last year to less than one per cent.

Western Bay issued the second highest number of consents in a month over the last two years at 135.

The combined value of consents issued in the Western Bay sub-region was 23 percent ahead of the first five months of 2017.