Residential construction in transition

“Many will build at home with mom and dad”

Whether it's just a window replacement or the modernization of a roof or even an extension: the Wimberger Group sees enormous potential in the renovation business.(Bild: Wimberger/Martin Pröll)

Rising interest rates, more expensive land, higher construction costs and even stricter guidelines for granting home loans - this combination means that the dream of owning a home is hardly affordable for many. "New construction will not return to the levels of the past," Norbert Königsecker, Managing Director of the Wimberger Group, is convinced.

In 2021, the Wimberger Group secured a former Spar supermarket in Bad Leonfelden. "Without a plan of what we wanted to do with it," says Christian Wimberger. Three years later, the property has found its purpose. The construction company set up a competence center for conversion, renovation and energy saving.

The conversion and extension of residential buildings in particular has gained enormous importance for the Lasberg-based group in recent years. "We got involved in this topic a long time ago and then learned with every project - so we were able to react quickly when the market for new builds collapsed," says Norbert Königsecker.

"We have made it"
According to Königsecker, the new-build market shrank by 70 percent. "That's a one hundred percent death sentence," muses the Wimberger Managing Director. It wasn't an easy phase for the family business from the Mühlviertel region either, as he reports: "But we made it."

After the big boom came the big slump: new projects were postponed or canceled. Instead, more rebuilding is taking place.(Bild: Wimberger)

Staff had to be cut back. "But we were able to keep the core workforce," says Wimberger proudly. Now there is even a need for new staff again, he says. Is the general market situation already easing? "We were prepared for 2024 to be even less brutal than 2023. The big recovery won't come in 2025 either," says Königsecker with a sigh of relief.

"Old and young will move a little closer together again"
What does this mean for those who want to fulfill their dream of owning their own home? In the future, there will certainly be more construction, but above all there will be a lot of renovation work. "People will rebuild and build," says Königsecker, who describes it as follows: "Not everyone will be building on greenfield sites, but many will be extending their homes at home with mom and dad in the future. The future will consist of old and young simply moving a little closer together again and living together in one property."

The potential for single-family homes to be renovated is there, Königsecker calculates: "There are one and a half million single-family homes in Austria. With conversions and extensions, we will certainly have work for the next 100 years."