Why don't construction prices go down?

You should calculate what a Bürgergeld family receives in benefits. I wouldn’t want to work in the low-wage sector either :D

1. There are already plenty of calculations showing that in almost all constellations, low-wage workers have significantly more money in their pockets. 2. Minimum wage earners also receive a lot of subsidies. 3. Unfortunately, employees also have to spend more money. Childcare, commuting costs, etc. 4. It becomes even more noticeable in retirement. 5. Money isn’t everything. Isn’t it always said that Harzis have no regular daily routine, spend their money only on cigarettes and beer, that the Harzis’ children have great role models in the family and later take the same path in life, etc. Honestly, it’s completely embarrassing and, in my opinion, shows a lack of self-respect and a role model function for the family if someone voluntarily wants to receive Bürgergeld instead of working. I prefer to be proud to shape my life myself rather than freeload. Of course, this only applies to those who prefer the freeloader life. And yes, the Bürgergeld is too high. At least in cash. Benefits that go directly to the children, for example, would be better. And once again yes, many jobs are simply paid too poorly.

You should calculate what a citizen's income family receives in benefits. I wouldn't work in the low-wage sector either :D

Refugees do not receive citizen's income. The sentence is 30% below that. And of the refugees who have arrived, 25% have no prospect of asylum. Just heard yesterday in an interview with a migration researcher.

Refugees do not receive citizen's allowance. The sentence is 30% below. And among the refugees who have arrived, 25% have no prospect of asylum. Just heard yesterday in an interview with a migration researcher.

That is definitely not true. Take a look at official figures. The proportion of recognized asylum seekers and refugees with the right to stay has been between 20 and 60% over the past 15 years.

In new construction, however, this trend is not visible at all. The new prices will come at the end of the year; I hardly believe that any construction company will lower prices, at most they will keep them the same or include "nonsensical" additional features in the standard package to suggest a price reduction "But now we have a fireplace included!!"... yeah great, but I don't need that...

I actually expect almost the opposite, more like a "look, we lowered the prices!" (or did not increase them), but in reality, things have been removed from the standard and moved into some kind of add-on package. I don’t remember who it was exactly, but I recently came across a provider offering a "shell house" that they definitely did not advertise about 1 1/2 years ago when we looked through more catalogs. I can increasingly imagine it going in that direction. So companies are trying to have cheaper "starting" prices or stripped-down models also on offer because there is currently more demand for that than there was two years ago.

I actually expect almost the opposite, more like a "look, we have lowered the prices!" (or not increased them), but in reality things have been removed from the standard and moved into some kind of add-on package. I don’t remember who it was exactly, but recently I came across a provider offering a "shell house" that they definitely didn’t advertise about 1 1/2 years ago when we browsed through more catalogs. I can increasingly imagine it going in that direction. That companies try to have cheaper "starting from" prices or offer stripped-down models because there is currently more demand for that than there was 2 years ago.

Then please explain where these discounts are supposed to be granted.

In plant engineering, we face this "problem" daily. We want to give the customer a discount, yes we have to... but on what? I don’t want to earn less... my colleagues don’t either... the suppliers see it similarly, so you can’t expect any discounts there... and the margin can’t be squeezed forever either, because the boss wants to make money with the company... if in the end it breaks even, he doesn’t need to go through the stress...

I don’t think I’m revealing a secret when I say that especially smaller craft businesses have barely earned enough for their existence for years when working for general contractors. There is no saving potential left, that needs to be understood finally.

And "shell house" is a very bad example... the general contractor can easily "save" a five-figure sum without the customer, usually a layperson, noticing any difference from 2019... Please... every child knows that... if we want to rip the customer off, that can be done without blinking in 5 minutes. A few lines in the contract are enough... we know how it goes...

Then please explain where these discounts should be granted.

I'm not talking about discounts (in the sense of the same service for cheaper) right now, but rather about cutting down what is included in the offer. So that the smaller houses are increasingly promoted, where maybe two years ago the large city villa was promoted. Or that the shell house (at least partly) is being advertised, where before the "all inclusive" offer was primarily promoted. Precisely because a general contractor still has to work cost-covering, but now customers have less money available.

Otherwise, I see it roughly similar to you. I mean (to say the opposite again) according to my understanding there are indeed material costs that are currently going down or at least have decreased since the peak (someone mentioned roofing battens above, I think this applies to wood in general. I also assume shortages in roof tiles and heat pumps are no longer as severe, which might also have a cost-reducing effect), but on the other hand (as you write) labor costs increase more strongly and that is a large cost portion in single-family homes and I also believe that there will not be significantly fundamental discounts because of that. So I'm actually pretty much with you.

It's probably not transferable to other industries that way, but especially for something like single-family homes, building something smaller is indeed an option. Or for example, with my BT, at the beginning (when the project was initially advertised), prefabricated garages were included and now they are not anymore. So I suspect less that the fireplace will now be included, but rather that they will look at where they can optimize away the dressing room or remove the second bathroom. In recent years, even the cheaper providers have improved their standards, so I could imagine that this is now moving partly in the opposite direction in order to push down the "starting" price again (but effectively you get less for it).

Ultimately, I am just speculating though.