The number of completed apartments in the 19 Euroconstruct member countries is expected to increase by 11.5 % year-on-year to a total of 1.751m units in 2018. The revised forecast for the current year was presented at the Euroconstruct conference held in Helsinki on 8 June. At the previous conference held in Munich in November 2017, an increase of only 7.1% to 1.711m completions was forecast for 2018. According to the revised forecast, only a slight growth of 1 % to 1.775m completions is expected for 2019. Completions are expected to turn negative in 2020 and fall short of the previous year's figure by 2 %.
Euroconstruct expects the strongest increase this year in Hungary (+108 %). Completions in Spain (+37%), Ireland (+30%), Portugal (+22%), France (+16%), Norway (+14%), Sweden (+13%) and Poland will each show double-digit growth. For the other countries, with the exception of Belgium (-1%), single-digit growth rates are forecast.
According to Euroconstruct, positive labour market developments in Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland and Ireland will lead to an increase in residential construction activity in the current and the coming year. In most countries, residential construction continues to be positively influenced by the favourable economic outlook, household income trends and general financing conditions. However, in France, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Ireland, construction activity has been dampened by relatively high prices for residential properties. According to Euroconstruct, the high price levels achieved in Germany, the Netherlands and Poland, among others, have so far had no inhibitory effect on residential construction.