The end of the house construction boom in EuropeSelected results of the Euroconstruct winter conference 2007

According to the current analyses of the experts from the 19 member states of the Euroconstruct network, house construction had two top years in Europe in 2006 and 2007. Construction volume amounted to €685 billion each year. Continuingly low interest rates as well as additional demand due to the increasing number of households led not only to lively building activity but also to increasing real-estate prices. Germany was the only exception. The high price increases in many countries, together with the perceptibly improved supply of housing because of extensive new construction in recent years, stabilized the house building activity at a high level in 2007. The forecasts for 2008 to 2010 indicate a perceptible consolidation of the clearly overheated markets in some countries up to 2010. After ca. 2.6 million housing completions in 2007, these numbers will drop by ca. 250,000 units in 2010. Those countries with the highest growth rates will experience the strongest declines. The turnaround will be particularly marked in Spain, where in the last four years alone nearly 3 million units were constructed. In 2010 the housing construction volume will amount to ca. €685 billion, corresponding to the level of 2006. In civil engineering and in non-residential construction, growth will continue, however. In particular in civil engineering, demand will increase perceptibly; the average growth rates in the forecast period will reach ca. 3.5-4 percent per annum. In non-residential construction, growth at about 2.5 percent p.a., on average, will be somewhat more moderate, however.