Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Hm ok. We have oak stairs,

Ribbed gate steel 8mm, 3m at 4.45€ costs 6.00€ today Formwork panel 50x25x17.5cm at 2.40€ today 2.95€ Cement 25kg at 2.59€ today 3.79€

But the margins of the intermediaries are still included and the "the customer won't pay more and the competition offers it cheaper" approach is factored in. The craftsman or, even more so, the large general contractor buys directly from the wholesaler, who has experienced significantly more extreme price jumps. It can be compared to electricity as a private customer and electricity for large commercial customers. Our electricity price has doubled, the one for the bakery next door has increased tenfold.

Bauhaus vibrating plate: 06/21 = 400€, currently 450€

It pays off to plan ahead here. I got mine on the used market for 250€ and the thing is almost new. But they sell super fast, sometimes they're not online for even 2 hours.

Is there actually a definition of what is simple standard and what is upscale?

None fixed that I know of. You could orient yourself on the rent index, but I still believe that a bathtub doesn't automatically upgrade a bathroom. Our current one is a prime example of that. By the way, for under 2500€ you can't even build in the Town & Country basic anymore. Flair 125 is now at 318k. And when I look at how far a house with an air-water heat pump, underfloor heating, shutters, monolithic construction system is from the base price, realistically you're looking more at around 3000€/sqm plus painting, floors and other construction-related services. Crazy how expensive it has become. I would call things like parquet flooring, walk-in showers, blinds, all smart home features, a battery (a photovoltaic system is at least mandatory here, so standard), fully wooden stairs instead of steel-wood, etc. upscale.

Hm ok. Flair 125 at my general contractor currently for a base price of 250k, Saxony-Anhalt.

Sure, there are big regional differences. All the more surprising I find the generalization with which houses are often dismissed as "social housing standard" just because they don't "reach" 3,000 EUR/m².

By the way, the Flair 152 RE is available for 280,000, a significantly better price-performance ratio compared to the Flair 125.
Is Town & Country always monolithic? Aerated concrete, basically. Underfloor heating 10,000, you don’t need roller shutters, definitely not everywhere. RC2 is important, air-water heat pump is a matter of belief, I would still choose gas, hydrogen will be the future.

Solid wood stairs are premium? Isn’t a beech staircase no more premium than solid oak wood steps and stainless steel supports?

I install click parquet myself, we also have a floor-level shower 90x120.

KfW40 standard solid construction, filled Poroton T6.5 bricks Basement executed as a white tank 156m² living space, simple floor plans, no large spans, no gallery, pantry or large window areas

IDM Aero ALM 4-12 heat pump

Sorry, I haven't looked it up yet and don't have it in my head, but I had to raise my eyebrows a bit at the combination???

What heating load do you have and how does the sanitary engineer justify installing such a beast?

Door installation kit from Bessey bought in summer 2021 for a total of almost €260, since I now want to sell it I checked: The current price for the set is €300. I estimate there is about 1kg aluminum + plastic + 2kg steel inside.

Is there actually a definition of what is considered basic standard and what is considered upscale?

Maybe the mortgage financiers among the bankers could help here. I suspect that the type of equipment is part of the property valuation.

On the other hand: what is called luxury equipment in real estate listings is quite fascinating :D