"Residential construction in shock" – Germany stops building

The construction crisis began just over a year ago. When many home builders gave up their plans for their own home due to high interest rates and prices, the number of permits for single and two-family houses fell. Now the construction crisis is hitting the whole breadth. In January, only 21,000 new apartments were approved nationwide, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Friday. Compared to January 2022, this was a decrease of 26 percent. Last year, building permits fell to their lowest level since 2018.