Incoming orders in the German construction industry fell 7.4% in November compared with October, data on Thursday showed, the latest bad sign for the nation's struggling property sector as it suffers its worst crisis in decades.
The data from Germany's statistics office for late last year set the stage for economists' forecasts for a difficult 2024 and this week's stepped-up warnings from regulators about the health of the property sector.
The 7.4% fall, which adjusts for calendar and seasonal effects, compares with a 2.7% fall for the month in 2022.
For years, the property sector in Germany and elsewhere in Europe boomed as interest rates were low and demand was strong. But a rapid rise in rates and costs put an end to the upsurge, pushing some developers into insolvency as bank financing dried up and deals froze.
Residential construction declined 7.2% in the month, the data showed, bad news for the government, which has been missing its aim of building 400,000 apartments a year.
In reaction to the data, Felix Pakleppa, chief executive of the ZDB industry association that represents 35,000 building firms, called residential construction the "problem child" of the building sector.
