Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

The experiences with shrinking cities show that vacancies first occur in apartment buildings (Plattenbau), single-family homes do not stand empty, on the contrary, construction continues there. The single-family home becomes a privilege for high earners and heirs.

It is not going to be like that, but actually has always been that way. Only the willingness to do without other things was greater in the past. Now everyone wants multiple TVs, vehicles, vacations several times a year...

That can be forgotten if you want to treat yourself to 180m² with a wellness area for 2 people...

Smaller houses do not seem to be much cheaper to me, rather the opposite.

No. You can also buy/build much cheaper. But here in the forum you will find almost exclusively house wishes that are significantly above the standard 08/15 terraced houses of the developer. Or those that are built in Munich, Hamburg, etc.

Definitely not everywhere. We also had an offer from Town & Country for a Bodensee 129, which then cost just under half a million with the land (70k), additional costs, kitchen and outdoor facilities, mind you without a basement and with prices calculated at the end of '20. Today it is definitely much more expensive. Included upgrades were only underfloor heating, heat pump, and KfW55 (about 20k). One could still save the KfW, but that doesn’t make a big difference and soon KfW55 will be the new energy saving regulation anyway. The building location is not Munich or Hamburg by the way, but in the district LK SIG. Yes, southern Germany is more expensive than the East, but you won’t get out here below a total budget of half a million, even with relatively cheap plots.

I can agree with that. We are currently planning anew in an affordable area ([Grundstück um 50k]) and we can't get below a total budget of 500k, no matter how we twist and turn it. If we were to significantly restrict our wishes, we could come out at exactly around 500k, but that would be difficult, smaller, and without a carport.

Definitely not everywhere. We also had an offer from Town & Country for a Bodensee 129, which then, including the plot (70k), additional costs, kitchen, and outdoor facilities, was just under half a million, without a cellar mind you and calculated with late '20 prices.

But that is again an individual house. Detached. That's not what I'm talking about. That is always quite a bit more expensive than the standard row houses including the plot: Bad Kreuznach: Sinsheim: Etc.

...

For now, I still hope for our engineers and mechanical engineers. If they develop products that are in demand worldwide and can be sold, then the future does not have to look so bleak. Maybe we can bring back some neglected and outsourced (pushed abroad) technologies. I seem to remember that we were once innovative regarding solar technology (or was it wind energy?) (it was "back then" a kind of German "garage company"), but this pioneering German company was then "driven away" to the USA. That was ages ago, so I no longer remember the name.

I think it’s good that Mr. Musk has shown in Germany that bold entrepreneurship still has a chance here. (This is now greatly simplified and expressed in just one sentence.)