Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

RIP single-family house new construction 2022. That's it now, those are the aftermaths.

no reason for so much drama. those declared dead live the longest.

They would cost on average over T€ 5. If the land were free, then still T€ 4.5.

presumably, because the land prices here have indeed not quite doubled within 2 years but unfortunately increased from about 280-340 in March 2020 to now at least 400, but usually it goes towards 500+

In September 2021 we bought a piece of land relatively cheaply. It was a bargain and we had to act quickly. Despite a 3-year building deadline, we wanted to take it "easy" since my wife is on parental leave until the middle of this year anyway. In the meantime, we found our house construction company and signed everything at the beginning of this year. Then everything that could go wrong did go wrong within a few weeks. Since January/February we have been waiting for the architect appointment to finalize the financing. We only got this appointment now in May. That means instead of originally 0.8%, by then, if things go badly, we will have 3% interest or even more. Our bank has already informed us that they can no longer honor their commitment regarding our preliminary application. We have involved a broker, but it doesn’t look good. I see monthly additional costs on the originally planned installment of 700-1000 € as realistic and that within a few weeks. Over 30k in funding planned through the KfW is gone. Great that we want to build kfw40+... The planned costs for interior finishing are exploding. All the offers we received a few weeks ago can be thrown in the bin because they are now at least 30% more expensive. Our staircase was supposed to cost 10k, now the staircase builder alone wants 8k more. It is devastating. Tomorrow there is hopefully an honest conversation with my loan broker to see if our project still seems realistic, but for me it is actually more than clear that it does not. Before I go to the architect and throw even more money out the window, I need clarity to pull the emergency brake. Luckily, I have a clause in the contract that allows me to withdraw free of charge from the contract for work if the KfW runs out or does not approve our application... or also if the financing does not work out. But here too, I expect that this will not go smoothly. I see that many here are currently carrying their own burdens and I wish you all much strength and stay strong.

Here in Australia, one construction company after another is going down the drain at the moment. The additional costs cannot all be passed on to the customers. The average consumer builds with a fixed contract and the general contractor cannot legally demand more so easily. Hundreds have half-finished houses, or only a foundation slab, or nothing at all. And no other construction company is interested in finishing these houses. Many construction companies inform their customers that either you pay the extra costs, e.g. €60k, or if you want to get out of the contract, it often costs more, e.g. $68k. Meanwhile, house prices in some major cities like Sydney and Melbourne are dropping by up to 5% regionally. This is just the beginning. Anyone who is still building in my country now is poorly informed. Unlike DE, a lot of building land is always available here. Houses in AUS, as I have already written once, are more expensive than in DE, although in comparison to DE they are just rabbit hutches, big and nice to look at, but the standard cannot be compared to DE.

Unfortunately, our government had a totally stupid idea in 2020 to distribute money to first-time builders and those planning major renovations in order to boost the economy. The program ran, I think, for about 8 months. That really messed up. The demand was huge, GUs and land developers first raised prices and enjoyed the windfall. The contract had to be signed within a certain period. Firstly, the government did not expect the rush and many ended up empty-handed because only x dollars were available.

And then AUS reached the corona wave late, many in quarantine, the borders were closed for almost 2 years (no workers from abroad), transport within the country no longer worked, and as everywhere in the world, everything is in short supply, everything has become expensive, but the inflation rate here is only half that of DE. There are only a few existing properties for sale and they find a buyer within days.

And as long as China, which perhaps affects us more than the EU, is constantly putting millions of people into quarantine, not much will improve. In my husband’s company, devices are piling up because there are no spare parts.

Maybe now is the right time for the spoiled West to lower its personal demands a bit and reconsider whether you really need EVERYTHING.

Maybe now is the right time for the spoiled West to lower its personal expectations and reconsider whether one really needs to have EVERYTHING.

I don’t agree with everything, but I see us here in Germany, for example, currently at the peak of prosperity, and for many people, especially the young and the elderly, the next few years could already be difficult!

Currently, I see more and more large old buildings coming onto the market with us, starting from 200 m2 upwards, plots of land with 1000 m2 and more. Somewhere from the 60s/70s where in the 90s a new oil heating system was installed, and a window was replaced...

Price from 350k upwards plus the enormous sums you have to invest in upgrading/renovation and your own remodeling wishes.

The downside is the rural area, 20 minutes by car to the cinema, larger supermarket or hardware store, school, daycare, and so on. And hardly any public transport with reasonable schedules except maybe for the schoolchildren. No matter the direction, it takes 30 minutes to get on the highway.

Too far out for city dwellers, probably not feasible for the locals due to salary levels...