Why don't construction prices go down?

Why is it considered dubious? Here in the forum, people preach from morning till night that a new build under 3,000 EUR/m² at best corresponds to social housing and that you only get something decent from 3,500 EUR/m² onwards.

The Flair 152 is available in my region for 275,000 EUR. That’s 1,800 EUR/m². Sprucing it up a bit, laying floors, painting walls, maybe that’s 350,000 EUR. By the time you’ve spruced it up, done floors, etc., you’ve already invested quite a lot and are at 2,300 EUR/m².

If someone can afford more, fine, they can also gladly build for 4,000 EUR/m². No problem, no envy. But this whining that no one can afford building anymore. As I said, you get the basic standard for under 2,000 EUR/m².
Paint for the whole house maybe costs 1,500 EUR, a drywall sander 150. Good vinyl 30 EUR/m², so around 4,000 (bathrooms are tiled after all). Kitchen from Ikea easily under 10,000 EUR.

It’s a lot of work. But still better than giving up and rotting away in a rental dump because you believe the fairy tale that there’s no house under 3,000 EUR/m².

As I always say... if I can’t afford a Mercedes E-Class, do I walk? Or do I rather buy a Golf?

Oh, I see. And I believe it is also quite educational for my children to see that you can do a lot yourself and don't have to call in a craftsman for every nail in the wall... just like some few here in the settlement do.

It's just a lot of work. But still better than giving up and wasting away in a rental shack because you believe the fairy tale that there simply isn't a house under 3,000 EUR/m².

You just don't want to understand, do you? Having a house built ready to move in or contributing your own work is a huge difference.
We are ALWAYS talking about buildings without any own work. And there +/- 3,000€/sqm still fits very well even now.

And yes, I know what I'm talking about. I'm currently in the payout phase for a KfW 55 renovation of a 60s old building. From the old structure (60s without any renovation) to today's energy standard, or 60% of the interior finishing (two-family house) to a higher standard costs only about 500€/sqm. Yes, we're talking about everything except a new garage, additional construction costs, and outdoor facilities.
And yes, my customers at work build on average all from 3,000€/sqm plus the usual extras. But then the house is completely built by craftsmen – regardless of whether it's a single-family or multi-family house.

And I think it’s also very instructive for my children to see that you can do a lot yourself and don’t have to call in craftsmen for every nail in the wall... just like a few here in the settlement do.

Definitely!

As far as photovoltaics are concerned: with electric cars, China is trying to eliminate the competition through state subsidies. Is this also the case with photovoltaics and does it lead to the relatively low prices? It would be funny if China is subsidizing the energy transition here with us.

Heat pumps are currently also piling up everywhere. Manufacturers are already laying off staff again because politics simply failed. There are currently good package deals to be had.

What has politics failed at? You can also see it differently: in all the newspaper articles about the construction crisis, it says that the construction industry is suffering from high building costs. If politics now manages that providers can offer heat pumps even cheaper, then politics has done everything right. In mid-2023, there were a few articles trying to figure out why, for example, heat pumps cost significantly less in the UK. There was something about houses in Germany being much more individual or that labor costs in Germany are much higher than in the UK and that optimization would have to happen first in Germany or so. Maybe optimization has just happened now?

What has politics failed to do?

To make sensible politics. The heating law is just worthless. In with the potatoes, out with the potatoes. First trigger a very short-term, spontaneous boom and then backtrack again. CO2 prices are ridiculous. In other countries, it runs differently. Heating with fossil fuels has been getting more expensive for years, district heating is promoted, large heat pumps, high direct subsidies for heating replacement (or it gets more expensive with the old heating system). In addition, the usual scare tactics for German companies. And this is how heaters are actually installed: Sales in Q1 2024 and (change compared to Q1-2023) ● Total heat generator market: 217,500 units (−29%) ● Heat generators (gas): 140,000 units (−17%) ● Heating heat pumps: 46,000 units (−52%) ● Heat generators (oil): 27,500 (+27%) ● Biomass: 4,000 (−81%) ● Solar thermal: 46,500 m2 (−60%) ● Domestic water heat pumps: 10,500 (−52%) ==> failed politics toward renewables clearly visible. Oil heaters are increasing? Crazy, but unfortunately the truth. Overproduction leads to falling prices. Yes, politics is to blame for that. But not intentionally...

The problem is not the construction prices. It is the net wages.

You give about 50 percent of your gross salary in taxes and contributions. That is simply sick.
Then we are supposed to work even more so that the greedy state gets even more revenue because the record tax revenues are no longer enough.

And today the top earners here complain that the construction prices are too high. Why don’t you complain about the high tax burden?

If you build a house today, 19 percent VAT is included. For a house price of 400,000 euros, 80,000 euros already go to the state. If I calculate that from the net income, that means you have to earn 160,000 euros gross.

If you can’t do anything yourself today, you actually shouldn’t even start building. Fact.

And then you have to read that people throw their entire equity in just to keep 10k cash. People!

When I read about people with 7,000 euros net per month, which is somewhere around 12 - 14,000 gross, not being able to afford a house anymore, then you have to question it.

And more and more. Rising health and nursing care insurance, spouse splitting gone. That will be a rude awakening for many.
Spouse splitting gone would be 500 euros less net for me. A lot of money in times of inflation.

Although I built my house myself, and as is known here completely without credit. That is of course possible too. Then you can get by with 1,000 euros per square meter.