Why don't construction prices go down?

I know it from how my parents built in the early 70s in the GDR.

It was financed with 60,000 GDR marks. The construction proceeded with good connections and a lot of personal effort. The construction pit was dug by hand, the bricks were unloaded from the truck overnight. Inside the house, only the essentials were built. I still vaguely remember that we had cheap linoleum in the house for the first few years. There were no tiles in the bathroom and the fittings depended on what was available or could be obtained at the time. I believe the windows came from Romania.

There were only 2 standard types of houses throughout the entire GDR. You could choose from these. Small changes were possible, but the floor plans were largely identical.

That is why today in East Germany there are only few differences in the layout of houses built before the reunification.

But it was possible for young families with children to build a single-family house. The loan installment was somewhere around 80 GDR marks per month.
That was of course no problem.

Today it looks completely different. You can do everything and have everything, you just have to generate the necessary income for it.

No, today people have houses built and when the craftsmen show up, they first go on vacation for 3 weeks. A sense of entitlement has developed, it just makes you feel sick.

I know it as my parents built in the early 70s in the GDR.

It's roughly like you would also name house construction in Uganda or Kyrgyzstan as a reference. The GDR was a state that was basically completely messed up since its founding and where nothing worked. Actually, all the children of the turning point should cheer - but as you can see, our country is not good enough for them compared to before.

But it was possible for young families with children to build a single-family house. The loan installment was somewhere around 80 GDR Marks per month. That was of course no problem.

Sure, there were also state regulations on what the house was allowed to cost – the price was set by the state. And in addition, 75% of the costs as an interest-free loan. But as always, not to everyone, only to selected workers and politically correct citizens. In a dictatorship, whatever the dictator commands is always possible... and then under the conditions dictated by him.

That was not only the case in the GDR; for example, with Neue Heimat in our area, the large washtub in the laundry room was still standard, as were continuous supports for sinks between terraced houses, and of course washing by hand by mother, father, uncle, etc., all on the cheapest standard, meaning only an oil stove in the living room. I find it nice that the world has moved on in this respect and today I enjoy an absolutely luxurious standard by comparison, but I have not forgotten the other way and can therefore always appreciate and contextualize it accordingly. Whether someone goes on vacation during construction (which I also did out of a rather late adolescent urge) or whatever else is really nobody’s business and should be each person’s own affair; why should that bother me in my own life? It only becomes annoying when someone noticeably keeps hitting the constant whining button, which I really cannot stand hearing because in my memory I have never heard anyone complain like that about sacrifice or the much work; that was part of it and was the price to pay for being allowed to have that little house afterwards. I know people nowadays who have a great house and others who would never want one, and both are right and don’t complain that it was better somewhere else, earlier, or whatever. It just wasn’t and isn’t. Many things bother me nowadays, too, and I therefore try to withdraw a bit from that kind of environment because I won’t change it. You seem to despair about it more or stay in complaint mode, but you should simply change things for yourself. Hoping for eternal happiness in some cheap foreign country is certainly a very bad path. Say something positive about your current life or positive life plans or something joyful; we all already know the other stuff. Above all, be glad that you and (sometimes unfortunately) everyone else is allowed to say and write their frustration out loud without ending up in Bautzen for it. Despite all understanding for current problems, annoyance, and frustration, the truly significant achievements should not be forgotten so quickly.

For example, with Neue Heimat, they built for us,

But as rental apartment construction - single-family houses were a rarity (somewhere around 3-5%, if at all). That was social housing, which pushed our rental market and our preferences for renting in Germany.
Multi-family apartment construction in the GDR was significantly worse. There toilets were often not even inside the apartment... (at least very frequently).

Say something positive from your current life or positive life plans or something joyful,

At some point, one becomes so embittered that one can no longer recognize the beautiful things in the world. We have such a wonderful country with wonderful people, landscapes, culture, gastronomy, freedom of speech, and all the possibilities one could wish for. Yes, not everything is perfect and many things can be done better. So what - I like living and working here and I keep enjoying many beautiful things.

But as rental apartment construction - single-family houses were a rarity (somewhere around 3-5%, if at all). It was social housing that pushed our rental market and our preferences for renting in Germany.
Apartment building construction in the GDR was significantly worse. There were not even toilets in the apartments... (very often at least).

They were very simple semi-detached houses, recently I even had a contract from 1960 in my hands once. About 90 sqm, designed from the floor plan (without real separation) for one household to make it affordable at all. The houses were privately owned and now half of them have been resold to older foreign worker families, for whom the "worn-down" condition seems to be sufficient.
I liked it very much, especially the social togetherness, but by now I wouldn’t want to live there anymore and not because of crime or similar often mentioned things, but simply because I have become more selective and spoiled; there is still some reflection to that. But I remember it well and therefore know that it can also be different.
Exactly, single-family houses in our environment were practically non-existent, except for a few exceptions of the so-called prominent people.
One street down there were similarly simple houses built between 1935-1938, owned by people from the same social class or later bought and renovated by some of my acquaintances.
That it was more basic in the GDR and elsewhere is certainly true, but what I hear from my wife (GDR) generally does not differ much from my childhood memories in the golden West.

At some point, one becomes so embittered that one can no longer recognize the beautiful in the world. We have such a great country with wonderful people, landscapes, culture, gastronomy, freedom of opinion, and all the opportunities one could wish for. Yes, not everything is perfect and much can be improved. So what – I like living and working here and constantly enjoy many beautiful things.

If you see a glacial erratic somewhere tonight, could you please carve this there and display it here?
It could already be self-explanatory that back then (understandably) people thought everything was great in the West. You can have interesting discussions about this with some people too. Now many have realized it or a completely human saturation has quickly set in and people only complain or look for new, liberating paradises abroad.
One could have learned, however, that this will not be different next time either, just as it wasn’t a paradise the last time.
I have never searched for a paradise or the one and only truth, because it doesn’t exist anywhere and never will. Therefore, despite all my partly big problems, I also enjoy our existence, because if I don’t enjoy it, it won’t get any better.
Always and again my personally lived tip for the discontented:
"Love it, change it or leave it" and that is really not meant badly, but I see it as the only way not to sink into frustration.

Yes... as someone once (paraphrased, not a quote) so nicely said, I can’t remember his name anymore. 34 years ago, 16.5 million GDR citizens boarded a train to the Federal Republic, but some of them never arrived. They had in their minds a FRG from the advertising TV of the 1980s, but the Federal Republic was never like that.

And then, of course, there was the fact that the GDR industry was hopelessly outdated and had no chance at all against the competition in the West. How was that supposed to be managed?

It’s hard to imagine, but 3.6 million Trabants were built in Zwickau in 34 years.
I had to google it three times because I couldn’t believe it... for 16.5 million citizens, by the way. Additionally, there were 1.2 million Wartburgs.
VW alone, meaning the core brand, built nearly 1.6 million vehicles in 1990. What the GDR managed in 34 years, VW did from 1989 to 1991.
You can hardly illustrate the power balance between FRG and GDR industry more impressively...

I can only urgently warn against joining the chorus that constantly tries to sing the end of Germany as an industrial location. On the one hand, I can’t remember any times when crafts and industry didn’t complain about something. That’s part of it, whoever screams the loudest gets heard.
On the other hand, it’s precisely this lethargy that is deadly. Because Germany won’t survive by producing structural steel St 33 (that’s how I first learned it, today it’s called something else of course) or a Dacia with 25-year-old technology. We are too expensive for that, others can do it cheaper and in similar quality.
Our products have to be more innovative and higher-quality than those of the cheaper competition. And then a Chinese consumer will gladly continue to buy the BMW iX5 instead of a BYD.

And a significant part of the reason why today's youth often no longer feel motivated is also these choruses.
Because if you hammer into the younger generation from morning till night that Germany is doomed anyway and that in 20 years we will only be a beet field... why bother striving? It will be over soon anyway, better to enjoy life now than to study hard at university or work hard on the construction site...