Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

On the topic of which source is more reputable: The White House or a magazine, I will leave that up to everyone to decide whom they trust.

On the topic of construction costs: There is currently movement in the energy market that could cause prices to rise further.
France's nuclear power strategy is going downhill; out of the installed 64GW, it only delivered 30GW. Due to the weather change, the French turned on their electric heaters, causing demand to skyrocket, and they had to buy a lot of electricity (mainly from us). Electricity in France cost 77 cents per kWh on Friday (DE 10 cents per kWh), and on Monday morning came the price shock ~2900€ per MWh, so almost 3 euros per kWh for one hour. On average per day, electricity costs 55 cents in France and 7 cents in DE.

Because we export a lot (have to), this causes electricity prices in Germany to become more expensive => German products become more expensive (high demand, low supply).

Today I learned in a phone call with a customer (dealer for large-format steel profiles) that the dealer's equity capital is now at around 2000EU.

Today I learned in a phone call with a customer (dealer for large-format steel profiles) that the dealer's equity capital is now well at 2000 EU

Crazy. According to ... (I’m not allowed to post the link) the hot rolled coil steel price per ton is between 1,350 - 1,400 euros. From the peak at 1,600 euros we are already somewhat away. The wood price has fallen from its highs of 1,400 euros per 1000 board feet back to below 800 euros. The oil price is at 94 USD / barrel WTI and thus at the level of early February 2022. In October 2021 we also had 85 USD. The price increases for material for the end consumer are immense.

So, with the current interest rates and the strong uncertainties, we wouldn't be looking for a house anymore. So it basically worked out at the last moment.

We had to have some heaters in the house renewed or removed/repositioned. The first person I called told me they were not taking any more orders this year. With the second one (who lives three streets away), we were really lucky. We got an offer, accepted right away, and everything was done a week later and still under the offer price. We fit well in between with the small order.

The cost for three new radiators (two of them long), repositioning one radiator, removing one, and the new sink including installation was €2330. The pure labor costs were €550 net. No idea if the price is reasonable; we didn’t want to make many more calls, so I didn’t request any other offers.

Hot-rolled steel is not a finished steel product as it is purchased on the market. Nor is reinforcing steel comparable in quality to the steel used by mechanical engineers.

The import ban on wood and coal from Russia was decided by the EU.