Illustrative photo: Wolfgang Weiser © Unsplash

Housing construction in Germany to fall to 185,000 units in 2026

Aug 20, 2026

The number of new homes completed in Germany is set to fall to 185,000 units in 2026. The forecast was published by Germany’s ifo Institute, based on calculations by the European research network EUROCONSTRUCT, of which it is a member.

By comparison, 207,000 homes are expected to be completed in Germany in 2025. The figure could rise to 195,000 in 2027 and to 210,000 in 2028. Even then, it would remain around 17% below the 2024 level.

“Although the outlook for housing construction in Germany had improved somewhat by February, the war in Iran and accelerating construction cost inflation are likely to make conditions more difficult again for property developers and housebuilders,” said ifo industry expert Ludwig Dorffmeister.

According to the expert, one reason for the slow recovery is the increase in the time required to complete construction projects. Since the beginning of the decade, the average period between obtaining planning permission and completing construction has increased by around six months to 27 months.

EUROCONSTRUCT forecasts a different trend for the European market. The number of completed homes is expected to rise to 1.44 million in 2026, 1.51 million in 2027 and 1.57 million in 2028.

“In countries such as Spain, France and the UK, significantly more homes are expected to be completed in the coming years, while in Germany and Italy the figure will increase only slightly or not at all,” Dorffmeister said.

EUROCONSTRUCT expects the European construction sector to grow by 2% annually between 2026 and 2028. After three years of contraction, housing construction in Europe is expected to return to growth in 2026.

At the same time, the situation in Germany’s housing construction sector remains difficult. According to ifo, the business climate index in the sector fell from −29.5 to −31.0 points in June. The proportion of companies reporting a lack of orders rose from 42.2% to 43.7%. A shortage of key intermediate materials was reported by 9.7% of the companies surveyed.

“Despite the increase in the number of building permits, companies continue to face weak demand,” said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys at ifo. According to him, the decline in order cancellations is not enough to offset the shortage of new orders and will not change the current trend.

The decline in housing construction in Germany is significant for manufacturers of windows and components, as new housing accounts for part of the demand for windows and other transparent building elements. At the same time, the situation differs in individual European markets. OKNA.ua previously reported that Ukrainian window exports to Poland had increased almost eightfold over three years.

Author

Olena Serdiuk OKNA.ua

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OKNA.ua

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