Aengevelt Immobilien, a partner within Deutsche Immobilien Partner (DIP), reports a substantial drop in new orders in April. In commercial and industrial building construction, the volume fell by 29.5 percent compared to the previous month, while public building construction experienced a decline of 32.3 percent. As new orders are considered a leading indicator for future construction activity, the company predicts that this trend will be reflected in a corresponding decrease in completions of commercial and industrial properties in approximately one and a half to two years.
The Federal Statistical Office reported at the end of June 2026 that new orders in the main construction industry remained at the previous month's level in April. According to analyses by Aengevelt Research, however, this stability is primarily attributable to civil engineering, where an increase of 6.5 percent was recorded. This upturn in civil engineering is attributed to the federal government's infrastructure package gradually taking effect, while declining developments were observed in most segments of building construction.
Differentiated Development in Residential and Commercial Construction
In residential construction, new orders in April 2026 still showed an increase of 8.9 percent to EUR 1.882 billion compared to April 2025, the same month of the previous year. However, the contracted volume recorded a decline of 8.5 percent compared to March 2026, indicating a slowing impetus in the residential construction sector. In contrast, commercial and industrial building construction, as well as building construction for public corporations, experienced marked slumps.
- —New orders for commercial buildings amounted to EUR 1.750 billion, representing a decline of 29.5 percent compared to March 2026 and a minus of 13.6 percent compared to April 2025.
- —For building construction for public corporations, a decrease of 32.3 percent to EUR 579 million was recorded compared to the previous month.
- —Only for building construction for non-profit organisations was a slight increase of 1.2 percent to EUR 645 million registered.
Causes of Market Development
Dr. Wulff Aengevelt, managing partner of Aengevelt Immobilien, attributes this development to the complex economic dislocations in conjunction with geopolitical conflicts and the persistently weak economy. Planned construction orders are thus being postponed or cancelled entirely. Particularly in commercial building construction, capacity expansions are often being foregone. Public authorities are also facing budget constraints, which diminishes the stabilising effect of public building construction. According to Aengevelt, the currently observed declines in new orders in the main construction industry will translate into decreasing completion and transaction volumes within one to two years.
