Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Of course, the rules of the market economy also apply in the construction industry. Just not perfectly like in the textbook, but that is true for all other industries as well.

Geberit released figures this morning, Q3 revenue -11%, EBITDA margin +4.5%...
You have them to thank for that ;) We simply still buy too much...

The strategy is also known from the car manufacturers. When capacity is not sufficient for all orders, those with high margins are prioritized.

This is not the reason here, capacity would have been available in greater amounts.

Quote from an analyst report:
"Despite the very difficult market environment with significantly lower volumes and considerable wage inflation, profitability was able to be increased. Operating margins rose significantly, operating cash flow and earnings per share increased in local currencies. This strong performance was mainly enabled by the high operational flexibility, especially in the plants and logistics, the significantly lower energy prices and consistent price management."
Emphasis by me.

In plain English, manufacturing costs have decreased thanks to declining raw material and especially energy prices, but sales prices were not adjusted downward; consumers still have too much money anyway and buy it regardless.

Edit: with a bit of bad luck, we are now actually running into a wage/price spiral, and then things will get really interesting.

In plain English, manufacturing costs have decreased thanks to declining raw material and especially energy prices, but selling prices have not been adjusted downwards, the consumer still has too much money anyway and buys it regardless.

The strategy can be pursued for a certain period of time, but sooner or later both competitors and customers notice it. I see neither a basis for the blanket criticism of the consumer nor for the claim that the market economy would not apply in the construction industry.

The building materials manufacturer with the yellow buckets also significantly raised prices on 01.11. Several newsletters from various paint online retailers had already announced this weeks in advance. On time for 01.11., many products in their online shops were then partially several € more expensive per bucket.

the consumer has way too much money anyway and buys it anyway.

I had this image several times during our vacation this week.. there is somehow still too much money in circulation..

Yes. What you didn’t see on your vacation, however, are people who can no longer afford a vacation. In that respect... there is a lot of money in circulation, yes. But extremely unevenly distributed, and statements like "there is still far too much money" sound like mockery to many. Always remember, this forum here is a bubble of the wealthy.