Why don't construction prices go down?

What I also wanted to express: Other times will come for the manufacturers as well. Times in which manufacturing costs can also rise sharply again. Then it is not always easily possible to immediately pass on these price increases. Therefore, in my opinion, one cannot always expect that prices for the customer will be lowered immediately when manufacturing costs decrease.

As long as demand persists, this can be done. However, if people feel that it is too expensive, a reluctance to buy quickly sets in. Sooner or later, manufacturers have no choice but to lower the price. As soon as one starts to lower the price because they urgently need the order, the others will not be able to maintain their high tone for long.

And with manufacturers of consumer goods for end users, you can also clearly see that demand is brutally low or simply much lower than supply. The fact that retailers are currently engaging in fierce discount battles, especially in consumer electronics, is intense. However, Corona was also a price driver here.

Concrete offer tile setter. Same facing brick. 2020 29.80 sqm. Now 41,- Material only. For laying on a time and materials basis, due to small area, 15.50 per hour more than 2020. He is available earliest in early summer. More likely summer…

Competition invigorates business. When I look at our company, the fight with competitors in the market (also due to disappearing markets like Russia) is really tough and directly affects the selling price. However, prices have also exploded extremely in the last 2 years (thanks to the competitors' problems). Now it is stabilizing again, partly even in the negative range, as energy costs are still too high and the competition is fully back. Fortunately, they are doing much worse than our company. We directly feel the slump in the construction industry. There is so little going on that companies can't sell their products.

Due to current circumstances, I can report that in my "tender" for our construction, none of the 5 construction companies I contacted offered more than a tiny 1% discount, sometimes after weeks of negotiations. Furthermore, all 5 are, as agreed, in a very similar price range for the building for our project. My impression is that there is no movement in the market.

These services are not always free, and someone has to bear these costs at some point, in some way. This can only ever be achieved artificially, how else?

I usually agree with you, but not here. In the case of the CO2 tax / BEHG surcharge, it is purely a steering instrument with very questionable effects, but with very well-documented disadvantages for the working class. It is not a refinancing of the expenses for preserving our livelihood. The "tax" is nominally earmarked for financing the Climate Transformation Fund – which is, as is well known, used for many things, but not for the promoted purpose.

The fact that construction prices are not falling is currently definitely not due to the material. A year ago, I did a cost calculation for the expansion of an old horse stable at our place – material costs only. These are about 10% cheaper today. By the way, at just under €90k / 90m² including listed building protection windows from the carpenter (€20k).

Offer for renewing the barn roof (approx. 320m², 7m eaves height): Removal of old Ondoline and gutters, new covering with 0.75mm trapezoidal sheet metal, gutters and downspouts in zinc, ancillary work and scaffolding: summer 2023: €30k from the Romanian master carpenter – €50k from the timber construction company from the neighboring town (with premium claim, 4-day week, etc.) – same material, mind you, all gross.
The friendly Romanian asked again last week. He could offer €28k and would still have time for it in April and May.
I also checked the material prices for the roof sheets: summer 2023: approx. €9.5k (sheets, screws, gutters, downspouts)
Today: €9.2k – exactly the same order.