The number of new building permits in Germany for apartments has dropped by 17 per cent to the lowest level since 2010 – in what was described as “a balance sheet of horrors”.
The figure for 2024 was announced on February 18 by the German Federal Statistical Office.
The number of new permits dropped by 43,700 units to 215,900 apartments, marking the third annual decline in a row. The figure was a far cry from the goal of 400,000 new apartments per year Germany’s government set itself in 2022.
On X on February 18, Dirk Salewski, president of independent real-estate organisation BFW, called the numbers a “balance sheet of horrors”.
Excluding the amount of permits relating to existing buildings – such as for renovations and extensions – the permits for newly constructed apartments dropped even more, by 19 per cent and down to 172,100 units.
The biggest declines were registered in the family houses segment – which accounted for about a quarter of total permits and were often built by private individuals.
In 2010, 187,600 permits were registered and since then Germany’s population has grown by almost 2 million to 83.6 million inhabitants.
The number of permits for non-residential buildings also fell in 2024, by 3 per cent to 193 million cubic metres – the cubic capacity being the indicator used by which activity in that sector was measured. That was the lowest value since 2014.
The figures could signify trouble ahead for Germany’s already ailing construction sector. The level of new building permits has been seen as an important early indicator of future construction activity.
The decline seemed to accelerate in the second half of 2024 compared to the start of the year.
In his post, Salewski demanded that following the elections on February 23, the next federal German government made residential construction one of its top priorities.
BFW represents the interests of 1,600 members, primarily mid-sized real-estate companies.
