Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

At the same time, a new building area was announced with 500 m2 per building plot. The "old" building area from 2018 had a plot size of 800 m2.

The question arises: The 500 sqm because nobody can afford the 800 sqm anymore.
Or, the 500 sqm for the purpose of densification/the municipality needs more income?

... and were surprised how much luxury ...

... it seems the focus is rather on an extra huge master bathroom, a large dressing room, and the third rooftop terrace (a bit exaggeratedly put - but also seen like that already)

I often wonder, but maybe this is some kind of "chicken-and-egg problem," whether builders are being "guided" in this respect by marketing experts or if these are really their very own wishes and needs. It is particularly striking to me regarding the white-anthracite/gray color combination. I think it "just can't be" that suddenly almost all builders prefer this color combination over any other combination, whereas in earlier years "no one" did.

Well, meanwhile the trend unfortunately tends more towards "it might be tight either way" :/ Just because of the interest rates, what seemed easily financeable last year with a good buffer now slips into a very painful range concerning the monthly burden.

As a member of the "now-or-never faction" ;-) I am keeping my fingers tightly crossed for you. You get used to "pains" or are those more like "complaints"? ;-) and eventually no longer notice them ... and the wine phases also pass. :) The house with garden remains.

In our town (5,500 inhabitants on the border to BaWü) the city announced yesterday that a building plot was returned and is now up for sale again.

These shattered dreams always make me sad anew, even if I do not know the affected people personally. Luckily, I am old enough to know that these people will somehow come to terms with it.

Many people basically only have home ownership left, and that is no longer so easy now.

That is not quite right. I am quite pragmatic about it. If you have the dream of owning a house but it is not possible in the area, then you should look for another area. Germany is very large and there are many places where you can build very well and still at moderate prices. Staying in Munich now, for example, and complaining that you can no longer build there is somewhat "narrow-minded".

Sorry, but I'm not moving away from my main place of life where friends and family are just because I want to have a house.

Just saying: the household income of the 90s was certainly earned by only one person, the other person was mostly at home in the old federal states … That it was then 38% of the household income I gladly believe …. what is this again for a poorly researched article?!

The question arises: The 500 sqm because no one can afford the 800 sqm anymore. Or, the 500 sqm for the sake of densification/the community needs more income?

Nothing is being densified there, a completely new housing development is being created on the outskirts on greenfield land - directly adjacent to the "old" development area. The old plots cost 119 euros per sqm, no prices have been published for the new ones yet. However, I assume these will be significantly more expensive. I think the size is supposed to make the building plot itself cheaper.

Sorry but I’m not moving away from my main place of life where friends and family are just because I want to own a house.

Then rather live squeezed together as 4 in the 75sqm downtown apartment for rent. Yes, that makes sense.