"Last January was the biggest January month ever, so it was exceptionally big," Ms Hill said.
"I would say [the number of consents is] probably plateauing. It's certainly not decreasing. Part of it is the number of resources available to build these houses and the ability of the council to process these consents."
Around 69 per cent of Tauranga's consented buildings in January were domestic dwellings. Fourteen per cent were commercial.
Ms Hill said it was difficult to predict if the value of this year's consented buildings would best a record-breaking 2016.
"It might not quite crack $1 billion, but it will be up there in the late $800m or $900m [range]. It may continue to increase, it's quite hard to know. There's still plenty of land out there."
She said local authorities have planned for growth "really well", and said around 600 hectares of commercial and industrial land would be made available in the next 20 to 30 years to complement a growing workforce.
Classic Builders regional manager Paul Taylor said the January drop was not a concern.
"It's due to the timing of the year ... February we'll see the inquiry coming back in," he said.
Last February Tauranga City Council issued 23 per cent more consents than January.
Mr Taylor said the company was likely to have around 25 or 30 consents lodged and granted per month throughout 2017.
"I don't know if it's going to grow, but I think there'll definitely be a consistency throughout the year.
"Now a lot of the land that has been developed through 2016 has been titled, so that will give us the time to get on the sites and build."
He said there was definitely still a sub-contractor shortage, and construction often took up to 10 per cent longer than it had in the past.