“The housing companies are losing customers in droves”

Lack of orders, many cancellations, record low mood: the situation in German housing construction is becoming increasingly murky. In November, 49.1 percent of companies complained about a lack of orders, after 48.7 percent in the previous month, as the Munich Ifo Institute announced on Monday in its survey. This means that the share has increased for the eighth month in a row. Order cancellations affected more than one in five companies: the proportion was 21.5 percent in November, almost as high as in the previous month (22.2 percent). “Customers are leaving housing companies in droves,” said the head of the Ifo surveys, Klaus Wohlrabe. “The high construction costs and the current interest rate levels are causing many builders to despair.” Many projects are simply no longer worthwhile under these conditions and would have to be postponed or canceled.