Construction costs are currently skyrocketing

You don't have to either. Then you just sign later and it will be more expensive. Doesn't matter where, since everyone is raising their prices.

So I'll go back a few decades. Most people here no longer even know what it was like to build in the GDR. Slowly, very slowly, old memories come back here and there. When you then hear that there aren’t even any nails anymore. As my father always said, you will still have to straighten out old nails so you have some.

Today a house has also become a consumer good. Just like a car, a wardrobe, or a new TV. I go to the model park, pick one out, and then have it built. Money doesn't matter either; the interest rates are cheap. What's decisive is not the investment amount anymore but the installment amount that can still be managed.

But how was it actually back then? The excavation pit for the basement was dug by hand. Then a truck came with a few tons of sand. After weeks of organizing and through contacts, the cement was arranged. The concrete was mixed by yourself. And so it went on. And yes, the builders were also working, mostly the wife working on construction as well, and the children were already there. But back then, one was over the moon if you got hold of some tiles somewhere. Of course, you couldn’t choose anything. You had to take whatever was available at the time. Or when on a Friday afternoon the truck with the hollow block bricks arrived and had to be unloaded by hand.

Who still builds by themselves today? Well, I did it and built completely without a loan. Only from ongoing income. Sure, it takes 2-3 years. But for that, the good house also dries out a few months during winter. There are no mold problems.

If I build a house today with 36cm Poroton, I also don’t need expensive insulation on it. With proper lime-cement plaster inside and outside, I have a 40cm wall with the best and natural insulation properties. And what do the planed Poroton stones cost now? A pallet with 60 stones costs 160€. A whole house with lintels, adhesives, and concrete I would say about 8000€. The first row should be done by a bricklayer, then it’s glued. It's like kindergarten. And today you can still mix the concrete yourself. What does 20m³ of ready-mixed concrete from the concrete mixer cost? 2500€. That’s not 20,000 from the construction company.

I also think that for those who can’t or don’t want to do anything themselves, the dream of owning a house will soon remain unfulfillable.

So I’ll go back a few decades. Most people here no longer even know what it was like to build in the GDR. [...] But how was it back then actually? The excavation for the basement was done by hand. Then a truck came with a few tons of sand. After weeks of organization and with connections, cement was arranged. The concrete was mixed by oneself. And so it went on. And yes, the builders were also working, usually the construction woman as well, the children were already there too.