As of: February 14, 2024, 8:48 p.m
By: Andreas Jäger
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German housing construction simply cannot escape the crisis - on the contrary, the mood has even worsened.
There is a risk of an entire economic sector crashing.
Munich – building 400,000 new apartments every year – the federal government set itself this ambitious goal at the beginning of its term in office.
But this has not yet been achieved anywhere near.
Because the construction industry is currently doing worse than it has in a long time.
And this despite the fact that the demand for living space among the population is high.
But excessive building regulations and bureaucracy, high raw material prices, increased interest rates and a lack of skilled workers and building land simply make housing construction not profitable.
There are also delays due to material shortages and disrupted supply chains.
New orders are not being received and projects are being cancelled
It is hardly surprising that the mood in German housing construction has deteriorated again, as the Munich ifo Institute announced on Tuesday.
The business climate in this area fell from minus 56.9 to minus 59.0 points.
This is the lowest value ever measured.
The same applies to expectations.
“The outlook for the coming months is bleak.
Housing construction continues to be exposed to a double burden,” explained Klaus Wohlrabe, head of the ifo surveys.
While on the one hand there were no new orders, on the other hand projects continued to be canceled.
The mood in German housing construction is currently worse than ever.
© Jan Woitas/dpa
And although there have been slight declines in terms of lack of orders and cancellations, it is not yet possible to speak of a turnaround in residential construction, says Wohlrabe.
Because: “The difficult general conditions have hardly changed.”
There is a risk of an entire economic sector crashing
“This downward trend must be stopped,” demanded Dirk Salewski, President of the Federal Association of Independent Real Estate and Housing Companies (BFW), looking at the numbers: “Housing construction needs noticeable relief in the requirements for new buildings, as well as tax relief, immediately. “Otherwise there is a risk that an entire sector of the economy will collapse,” says Salewski.