Major housing subdivisions in the city's west and south, commercial developments at Cameron Park, Gateshead and Morisset, and the $77 million Wakefield motorsport complex helped push the total past the 2017-18 figure of $1.16 billion.

Lake Macquarie City Council's chief development planner, Liz Lambert, said the result reflected ongoing confidence in the city's direction and came in spite of a national downward trend in development.

"There has been a real push in the past five years to promote and embrace appropriate residential and commercial development in Lake Macquarie," she said.

"Seizing opportunities to welcome new development will attract new residents, keep skills here in the Hunter Region and provide myriad other flow-on benefits."

Electronics giant Toshiba is among the companies which have been drawn to the area, capitalising on the city's proximity to Sydney.

Construction on a 1832 square-metre warehouse, workshop, training area and office at Morisset is nearing completion. It will be a regional hub for the company and is expected to bring 68 new and supported jobs.

"Toshiba's decision to set up shop in Morisset demonstrates our growing ability to attract major national and international companies," Lake Macquarie council's head of development and planning, Justin Day, said.

In the 2018/19 financial year, 1852 development applications (DAs) totaling more than $677 million were approved.

Additionally, 437 amended DAs totaling more than $560 million were approved.

This followed the approval of 2017 DAs ($757 million) and 441 amended DAs ($404 million) the year prior.

The two-year total of 4747 approved DAs and DA modifications totalled more than $2.4 billion.

Cameron Park emerged as the number one boom suburb in the past financial year, due to widespread residential development in the area.

That includes approval of a $26 million Woolworths shopping centre on George Booth Drive and a $24 million aged care facility slated for Portland Drive.

Morisset Park, including Johnson Property Group's Trinity Point development, Toronto, Windale and Wakefield were the next-best performing suburbs in terms of the value of approved development applications and modifications.

Ms Lambert said that while the total number of approved DAs fell slightly in the past financial year, their overall value increased.

"We tend to be buffered to some extent in Lake Macquarie by extremes in the development industry," she said.

"A lot of the fluctuation and volatility comes from CBD apartment developments, whereas our DAs are quite evenly spread across our entire city, and cover all development types."

BlackRock Motor Park at Wakefield topped the list for the highest value development application.

An aged-care facility at Gateshead worth an estimated $14.4 million was fourth on the list, while a $14.3 million mixed-use development in Toronto was fifth.

The council recently adopted a revised land-use strategy, Imagine Lake Mac, which envisions the evolution of the city to 2050.

Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser said the council would continue to nurture "progressive" partnerships with organisations that shared its vision.

"Our strategy is to drive and manage the right kind of growth," she said. "The Lake Macquarie community values our natural environment, liveability and idyllic location, but with the right approach and ongoing community consultation, we can grow and become an even more attractive place to live."

The top 10 Lake Macquarie suburbs by dollar value for approved new and modified DAs in 2018/19 were: