2023-10-03 22:00:00
The Austrian Prefabricated House Association is recording a decline in young building families. Many people are being forced into renting due to the difficult market situation, says the managing director of the prefabricated house association.
Strict lending criteria, high inflation and expensive energy are currently causing concern not only for house builders, but also for the Austrian Prefabricated House Association. Christian Murhammer, managing director of the prefabricated house association, spoke to the “Salzburger Nachrichten” about new developments in the industry.
The last few years have been turbulent: First Corona, then delivery difficulties kept the members of the prefabricated house association on tenterhooks for some time. Has the situation normalized? Christian Murhammer:The points mentioned are currently no longer an issue in the prefabricated building industry. The effects of Corona have been well managed and there can no longer be any talk of delivery problems. The extreme price fluctuations that made calculations so difficult are also a thing of the past. The problem, however, is that the “old” challenges have now been replaced by new ones. Now it’s inflation, the associated wage increases, interest rate developments, energy prices and then the hurdle of strict lending regulations artificially created by the infamous KIM regulation. All in all, not an easy time for companies and customers.
Are the order books still well filled? The order books are still full, but the clock is ticking. There are some new orders coming in, but nowhere near the required number.
The difficult market situation currently seems to be thwarting many new construction projects? The current framework conditions also have a psychological effect that cannot be ignored. Many young people say to themselves: We have no chance of getting financing anyway and then don’t even bother to find out about ways in which a construction project might be possible.
Others, who perhaps already own a property and for whom financing would not be a problem, are still waiting. They hope that interest rates and material prices will fall in the foreseeable future.
How can prefabricated houses score points even in these challenging times? Prefabricated houses still offer the greatest possible degree of planning security thanks to proven project management. The fixed price guarantee has also been back for a long time and will remain reliable.
How is the segment of prefabricated house customers currently divided: How large is the proportion of young families who want to fulfill their dream home? The luxury segment in prefabricated house construction is significantly less affected by the decline in orders than the more cost-effective variants for young families. This customer group has become smaller as a result of the unfavorable conditions. Which is a real shame. This hinders or even prevents the acquisition of property. Families are forced into rent. Demand is increasing and so are rents. Overall, over the decades, creating property is far cheaper than renting over the same period.
The difference: Only the landlord is happy about the rent paid, while the property represents a value that combats poverty in old age. I’m not just saying that, it can easily be calculated.
The single-family home model is increasingly being criticized. What impact does this have on companies? To be honest, I don’t fully understand the ongoing criticism of single-family homes. The focus of criticism is the soil sealing. Let’s take, for example, a single-family home development on an area of one hectare. The statistics show the entire hectare as “sealed”. However, only around 40 percent of this area is actually built. So more than half remains green. There is a great diversity of plants there and there is hardly any fertilization or insecticides used. Nowadays, every beekeeper prefers to place their hives in a residential area rather than next to an agricultural monoculture area. Apart from that, the prefabricated construction companies are of course also concerned with alternative offers in addition to the single-family home. The addition, construction or extension of prefabricated buildings to existing properties will increase in the near future. There will also be increased focus on dense construction. However, these variants will not mean the complete end of single-family homes any time soon.
Last year, a group of well-known representatives from the prefabricated house industry took over the management of the Eugendorf, Graz and Haid model house parks. How has it been going since then, what has changed? With this important step, the three model house parks were not only saved economically. Finally, what has been common in Germany for decades now also exists in Austria: operating companies are not responsible for the systems and pursue their own interests, but rather the prefabricated house companies themselves manage the exhibition areas – and this exclusively in the interests of the consumers, but also in the interests of the Industry.
What significance do the model house parks have for the prefabricated house industry? Of course, the prefabricated house parks represent the most important sales platform for the companies. But model houses for consumers are much more important than for the industry. The best website and the most modern VR glasses cannot replace a one-on-one experience in a show home. “Understanding” – in the truest sense of the word – prefabricated houses is important for the planning and execution of your future home. When you visit the model homes, you don’t just get ideas; you also get professional advice on all questions relating to building prefabricated houses. It is particularly important to emphasize that the model houses really only represent examples and do not have to be recreated in exactly the same way. Today, almost every prefabricated house is individually planned and adapted to the needs of the future residents and the requirements of the property.
Are you satisfied with the number of visitors to the parks? Unfortunately, inflation, interest rate developments and the additional artificial hurdles in granting loans also have an impact on the frequency in the model home parks. Although this is not zero, it is significantly lower than in previous years. Many people obviously think: It’s pointless anyway, I can’t manage the financing – but that’s the wrong approach. Obtaining information costs nothing. Also in the model house parks. A construction project in particular should be prepared intensively and well. This also includes obtaining information and obtaining many expert opinions. This works best in model home parks. And when the general conditions improve again, the acquired background knowledge can quickly be implemented.
Some changes were also announced during the takeover. How is the implementation going? The course has been set for better utilization of the three prefabricated house parks. In the future, there will also be an increased focus on providing all information on the subject of construction, especially building with the ecological building material wood. From an organizational point of view, there have already been the first innovations in connection with the opening times. Further measures are currently in the preparation phase. Implementation will begin soon.
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