ᐅ Future Building Cost Trends Over the Next 3-5 Years

In my opinion, the arrival of a new digital age will still take some time. To stay on topic with the forum: just Google "BIM"—what industry and politicians claim about it is quite laughable. Not only does it already fail at establishing standards for cross-software collaboration, but most people can't use much more than Excel and Word.

I believe construction costs will continue to rise even if the building boom slows down. Skilled tradespeople are facing challenges in finding new talent and successors. This keeps quality craftsmanship in short supply, even with reduced building demand, which in turn keeps prices high.

There may be additional programs for energy-efficient renovations – the topic of insulation will soon be "done." I expect a new photovoltaic initiative focused on renovations with self-consumption to become likely. This will keep roofers and electricians busy.

I see property prices easing somewhat in the near future, provided the economic situation does not turn out to be just a bubble.

Lumpi_LE schrieb:

In my opinion, the arrival of a new digital era will still take some time.
To stay on topic: just search for "BIM" online; what industry and politics claim about it is laughable. Not only does it already fail due to lack of standards for cross-software collaboration, most people don’t know much more than how to use Excel and Word.

I also believe that digitalization will take a long time to fully develop. In commercial construction, I expect BIM to become established over the next 2-3 years. Interface issues will improve. For some of the products I manage, we already have BIM models. Now it’s a question of the level of detail. The UK is already more advanced in BIM. Pilot projects are essential to work out the initial problems and learn from them. After that, I think it will spread quickly on a wider scale. Those who fall behind will face problems. As the saying goes: if you don’t move with the times, you will be left behind!

Steffen80 schrieb:

This isn’t just about the dying automotive industry... two-thirds of service jobs will also no longer be needed. Lawyers, medical diagnostics, programmers, bankers, consultants (tax, etc.), and so on and so forth...

With increasing digitization and technological advancement, everything is simply becoming more complex, not easier. Has bureaucracy ever decreased somewhere without increasing somewhere else?

Since when has the paperless office era been promoted? The 1980s? With computers, it has actually gotten worse. Maybe bureaucracy is just a constant at the level of what is barely manageable.

I am very relaxed about my professional future and the future in general.

HilfeHilfe schrieb:

Only a few want to commute

Statements like this often overlook that there are jobs available in rural areas as well. I barely know anyone here who commutes more than 15 minutes. However, within this time, it is not possible to reach a town with a population exceeding 20,000. Therefore, most people here work for companies located in villages or at the various workplaces that exist in rural areas too (except in very structurally weak regions), such as schools, daycare centers, pharmacies, supermarkets, local government offices, and so on.

The other way around: When Vodafone builds a campus in Düsseldorf for several thousand highly qualified people, those employees also need places to live. Within a 15 km (9.3 miles) radius, property prices increase. Well-paid employees invest in the region. Add ERGO, E.ON, and several others within that 15 km (9.3 miles) radius, and prices go up even more. This has nothing to do with the fact that there are also many good jobs in rural areas. The price development is a response to the concentration of high-income earners.