The number of building permits in Germany fell in the first three months of the current year.
There was a significant decline in single-family homes in particular.
Overall, the authorities approved the construction and conversion of 92,507 apartments in the first quarter.
This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office on Wednesday.
This was 3.6 percent less than in the same period of the previous year.
In March alone, a minus of 8.9 percent was recorded.
From January to March 2022, a total of 80,603 apartments were approved for new residential buildings to be constructed.
That was 3.5 percent less than in the same period last year.
The number of building permits for single-family homes fell significantly by 26.2 percent to 20,778.
In the case of two-family houses, the number of approved apartments fell by 3.3 percent to 8,426. In the case of multi-family houses, however, they rose by 12.5 percent to 49,688.
The number of building permits is an important indicator of the housing shortage in many cities.
However, apartments that have been approved are often not built at first because craftsmen and construction companies do not have the capacity due to high demand.