BERLIN, April 25 (Xinhua) -- The crisis in Germany's housing sector has worsened, with new orders in building construction falling by 29 percent year-on-year in February, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Tuesday.
"Residential construction is in freefall," said Tim-Oliver Mueller, chief executive of the German Construction Industry Association. "Skyrocketing construction costs are driving projects into inefficiency."
The decline in building construction was also reflected in a drop in new orders for the construction industry as a whole, which were down 15.4 percent year-on-year in February. At the same time, industry sales only fell 6.8 percent, according to Destatis.
"The order books are running dry," said Felix Pakleppa, chief executive of the German Construction Federation (ZDB), urging "clear and simple funding conditions as quickly as possible" to meet the rising demand for housing.
Due to increased interest and material costs, the number of building permits in Germany fell for the tenth month in a row in February, Destatis said. Only 22,300 new homes were approved, 20.6 percent fewer than in the same month last year.
In 2022, Germany again missed its target of 400,000 new homes per year. The government does not expect to reach the target for this year either.
Record immigration is exacerbating the housing shortage in Germany. According to official figures, more than 1.4 million people arrived in the country last year, mainly from Ukraine. As a result, the country's population rose to an all-time high of 84.3 million. ■
