Why don't construction prices go down?

Why should construction or even land prices then decrease?

Take a look at the land prices in the metropolitan areas. There, land prices have dropped by an average of 25% (current standard land values). Nowadays, completely different prices are being paid because people have realized that the high prices belong to yesterday. It happened faster than the comparison to "but it used to cost 99 Pfennig." So the prices should not decrease, they already have. And when I look at my clients, for large general contractors on bigger projects, prices are sometimes 30% below previous years (yes, the collective wage agreements from the main construction industry are still to come, but basically prices have already fallen again).

Why unserious? Here in the forum, it is preached from morning till night that a new building under 3,000 EUR/m² at best corresponds to a social apartment and you basically only get something decent from 3,500 EUR/m².

The Flair 152 is available in my region for 275,000 EUR. That is 1,800 EUR/m². A bit of sprucing up, laying floors, painting walls, it might be 350,000 EUR. Then you have already invested a lot in sprucing up, floors, etc., and it’s 2,300 EUR/m².

Anyone who can afford more, please, they can also gladly build for 4,000 EUR/m². No problem, no envy. But this whining that nobody can afford to build anymore. As I said, you get the simple standard for under 2,000 EUR/m². Paint for the whole house might cost about 1,500 EUR, a drywall sander 150. Good vinyl 30 EUR/m², so around 4,000 (baths are tiled anyway). IKEA kitchen easily under 10,000 EUR.

It’s a lot of work. But still better than giving up and rotting away in a rental shithole because you believe the fairy tale that there is 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?

Your calculation is unfortunately not complete. What about the garden, generally the outdoor facilities, a carport, etc.... The house does not end inside!

But unfortunately your calculation is not complete. What about the garden, generally the outdoor facilities, a carport, etc....
The house does not stop inside!

It does not stop, but it does not have to cost much. Carport? Luxury! Cars are rainproof, hard to believe. Natural stone terrace? Luxury! At the beginning, it is enough to level the ground and sow grass. Perennials can be obtained divided from neighbors or friends. A finished garden with fence, carport, greenery, expensive paths is not necessary if it comes down to the euro. A garden grows over years. Used building materials are often given away for free on classified ads. But no, everything has to be finished immediately. These people also pay 4000€/sqm.

The usual debate. Here in the luxury forum, the impression is given that 90% of all home builders move into the finished paradise, only the remaining 10%, the poor idiots, live for a few years on a construction site.
By the way, we don’t do that, our terrace is gravelled, the driveway is gravelled, and inside I have finished everything except transition strips and tiles in the utility room. However, it also took 3 months, mostly alone. Friends help for a day now and then but not for 3, 4 weeks every day for 10 hours...
A provisional path made of paving slabs was quickly laid for under 100 EUR with a trailer of sand and the cheap concrete stuff from Globus, fits. And that’s more than most neighbors around me have, they still walk over gravel...

I will no longer build a carport, it’s not needed. I can cool my electric car 30 minutes before departure in summer and preheat it in winter. There will be a shed for the gardening tools and that’s fine.

We will do the eaves gradually now, the facade, which was completely dirty from the rain, did not suffer despite heavy rain and muddy winter. So it doesn’t have to be done immediately.

Terrace and garden probably not until next year, although the hedge had to be planted already so that it grows quickly. Also because it works well on compacted gravel, you can’t see outside anyway when it rains.

The expectation to move into a finished paradise may exist and if you can and want to afford it... fine... I can’t, but I didn’t want to do without my own house with garden (and by garden I don’t mean 500m² lawn area fenced with double rod mats with plastic lightweight…).

Although... My father has been wanting to pay for a carport for months. But I don’t see the point, so we are leaving it.

PS:
Oh yes. Really finished here 3.5 years after building approval is maybe one third. One third somewhere in the middle and the last third doesn’t even have paved driveways yet.

Then people simply shouldn’t build. I just find it partly cheeky how there’s always shouting at "the state" to pay as much as possible. I helped out myself with my parents – there was >50% own labor because the money was really tight. In the purchased own house, I renovated 2 apartments myself. Now with the new build, I’m not really in the mood to do everything myself anymore – sure, it costs money to hand a lot over. That’s why there’s vinyl everywhere here instead of solid wood parquet, the stair steps are beech, the kitchen is the 7-year-old Ikea, the furniture is still from the old place, and the toilets are Ideal Standard. We’ve reached an age where we don’t have to show off anything to friends or neighbors. It has to suit us. And until a fancy and cheap lamp comes our way, it will just stay like that in the living room. (By the way, Wago terminals have gotten really expensive – just saying about the building prices)

But no, everything has to be finished immediately. These people also pay 4000€/sqm.

That's right. I especially see it in new housing developments with friends. In my generation (late 80s/early 90s), people take examples from some 1 million Instagram builds. Apart from the fact that anything under 150 sqm is considered small, there are also generally high demands. Laminate flooring, normal blinds, just paint instead of painter’s fleece, bar grille fences. All cheap stuff! In contrast, a fireplace, carport, and huge lift-and-slide doors are already part of the standard equipment.