Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

Well, even if the wage increases, you have to assess how sensible and sustainable the investment is or what your own alternatives are.

It may turn out that you really want to build (see some house designs here in the forum, where the costs are then underestimated or sugarcoated) or that you keep / retain / renovate existing property.

As I have already written elsewhere: In my view, renovation is currently not financially worthwhile. I hope that an incentive program will come...

Well, even if the salary increases, you still have to assess how sensible and sustainable the investment is or what your own alternatives are.

That's exactly how it is.

... so 8 years ago you could still easily buy a plot here for 250 euros / sqm. 700 sqm * 250 euros/sqm = 175,000 euros. A house was definitely achievable for 300k euros. Together, building a house here was possible for 475k euros plus additional construction costs. The interest rates at that time were very low at 2.x%.

... as of today you pay about 880 euros / sqm. 616k euros for 700 sqm. A house for under 500k euros here in the region is hardly feasible. Altogether you are currently looking at just under 1.2 million plus additional construction and purchase incidental costs. In addition, interest rates have meanwhile risen from 2 to 3%.

Hardly any salary increase will be enough for that.

As I have already written elsewhere: From my perspective, renovation is currently not financially worthwhile. I hope that an incentive program will come...

I am very sure that it will come.

As I have already written elsewhere: From my point of view, renovation is currently not financially worthwhile. I hope that an incentive program will be introduced here...

The question is whether that will be enough. Renovating millions of houses to heat pumps in a short time is nothing other than a demand shock. In addition, there is the goal to build 400,000 apartments per year in the future, which also corresponds to a very significant increase compared to the status quo. The supply of craftsmen will not be able to keep up with this. And if demand rises faster than supply, prices will increase. A subsidy program will then only lead to prices exploding even faster. Another problem – which in my opinion is far too little considered – is that renovations can hardly be carried out while living in the house. Underfloor heating and new screed make the house uninhabitable for at least 2 months, there is no room for discussion.

It is not as if underfloor heating is the only heat pump compatible form of heat distribution. It is "only" the most efficient.

It would already help to reduce the consumption of existing heating systems by, for example, insulating uninsulated roofs, replacing windows and front doors, insulating basement ceilings. And facades even in many cases subordinate, depending on the construction method. Especially in rural areas, there are houses that consume as much energy as a 1950s Cadillac.

It’s not as if underfloor heating is the only heat pump suitable form of heat distribution. It is "only" the most efficient.

Yes, but when I look at older houses... there are often relatively small radiators squeezed under the windows (compared to the room size). Often also behind some corner benches. You can’t get those down to 40 degrees flow temperature, but with higher temperatures you only get a COP=2-2.5, even if it’s still above freezing outside. I’m not even talking about proper winter yet. Physics simply can’t be tricked. And with the high energy demand of old buildings, that becomes a financial problem, 10,000 kWh of heating electricity is just too expensive (calculation assumption: COP=2.25, 150 sqm at 150 kWh/sqm, so still a relatively reasonable old building). Because electricity prices won’t go down to 30 cents anymore.