The Austrian prefabricated house market successfully defied the decline in the completion of single and two-family houses in 2022 and grew by 7.9%. However, the further decline in construction dynamics will also result in a decline in the prefabricated house market, as a study by Interconnection Consulting pointed out. In 2022 there was a decline of -5.4% in the completion of detached and semi-detached houses in Austria. Despite that fact, sales of prefabricated houses increased by almost 8%. In the coming years, the general decline in the completion of single and two-family houses will continue. In 2023, completions of single and two-family houses will plummet by 17%, which will ultimately also lead to a falling sales volume for prefabricated houses for 2023. In Austria, a decline in volume of 7.6% is expected for this year, which, despite sharp price increases, will even result in a drop in turnover in the industry of around 3%. The fact that the decline is not more pronounced is due to the increasing prefabricated houses proportion, which will even rise to 38.8% in 2023. In total, the market volume in Austria in 2022 was 1.3 billion euros.  More price increases The Ukraine war has created instability, resource shortages and is affecting the supply side of the economy. The enormous delays in the delivery of services drove the price increases even further. Therefore, on the prefabricated house market, prices increased by +7.3% in 2022, in 2023 prices are expected to increase by +5.1% and in 2024 by +3.9% compared to the previous year. Turnkey trend The preferred house type for prefabricated houses is the single-family house. In Austria, the share is currently 78.5%. This is followed by two-family houses with currently 4.9%. The rest is divided into terraced houses and "multi-storey residential buildings". Frame construction dominates with a current share of 73%. With regard to construction stages, a trend towards “turnkey” can be observed. This stage of construction has shown a continuous increase in market share in recent years, which is currently around 41%. This trend goes at the expense of ready-to-build and ready-to-tile prefabricated houses.

Price increases, political uncertainty and energy costs are having an adverse effect on the sales dynamics of the market for industrial doors in Europe. In the latest study by Interconnection Consulting, the sales forecast for the next few years has been significantly reduced. An average increase in volume of only 1.7% per year is expected until 2026. Catch-Up Rate Slows Down The market for industrial doors in the seven countries surveyed in Europe (see below) experienced a partial recovery as early as 2021 after the pandemic-related crash in 2020. However, after the market still grew by 3.5% in 2021, sales only increased by 1.2% in 2022. High energy costs and sharp price increases noticeably slowed sales momentum. Turnover was naturally able to grow more strongly in 2022 (+10.8%) due to inflationary conditions. Turnover will also increase by an average of 5% in the coming years. The largest increase in turnover is expected in France, with a rise of 6.9%. The dominant region for industrial doors is along the Rhine, in North Rhine-Westphalia, where there is a large sales market due to the high industrial density. Overall, Germany and France account for almost 70% of the total market volume. In comparison, Italy only has a share of 13.9%. The most important players in the European market are: Assa Abloy Group, Breda, Condoor, Novoferm, Ryterna, Teckentrup, Wisniowski. Sectional Doors Dominate Sectional doors are the largest product segment with almost 250,000 units sold, accounting for 54% of the market, followed by roller doors with 23.9%. In all countries except France, the market share of sectional doors is over 50%. In France, however, the share of roller doors is significantly higher than in the other countries surveyed. Steel is the most important material with a market share of more than three quarters and an above-average growth potential of 2.1% per year until 2026, followed by aluminium, which lost market share to steel last year due to high price increases. Other materials, such as PVC or mixed alloys, have a total market share of around 5%. The market share in value of the top 10 companies in the countries studied is 73.3%. The study examined the countries: France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden  

Window prices in Austria show great variation, both between traders and in a regional comparison, as a mystery shopping test by Interconnection Consulting revealed. The people of Burgenland, for example, have to dig deepest into their pockets when buying a window. At 621.5 euros, Burgenland is in first place for the price of PVC windows (90x130). Alongside the leader, Lower Austria, Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Styria are also above the Austria-wide average price of 547.0 euros. In Upper Austria, PVC windows are the cheapest at an average price of 492.0 euros. Compared to the previous year, the Austria-wide average price for PVC windows increased by more than 106 euros. The surcharge for increased security (increased window security, lockable handles) was around 25 percent in the PVC segment. Depending on the window brand and various features such as sound insulation, Ug-value (heat transmission through window glass), security class and brand, the price range for PVC windows in the 90x130cm format at the surveyed retailers was between 192.5 and 1,026.1 euros. "On average, the different window brands alone account for about 100 percent of the price difference for PVC windows," explains Vito Graziano, the author of the study. For wood/aluminium windows, the price range is between 659.3 and 1,890.8 euros. For wood/aluminium windows, Vienna is the most expensive province with an average price of 1,139.9 euros for standard safety, ahead of Burgenland and Vorarlberg. Upper Austria also brings up the rear in this segment at around 960 euros. The average price for wooden aluminium windows was 1,041.6 euros. The average surcharge for increased security is 11.4% for wooden alu windows. Manufacturers are Discount Shy The average installation costs including delivery and disposal were 2,844 euros, whereby the price range varies greatly between the federal provinces. In Salzburg, installation is much more expensive at 3,199 euros than in Carinthia at 2,005 euros. More than every third provider (38.7%) also grants discounts. Of the roughly 61% who do not grant a discount, 8.7% did not respond to the discount request at all. The average discount was 4.1%, considerably lower than last year's 10%. Cash discount was granted by 57% of the traders.  

The dynamics in the market for partition walls in Europe's top 5 region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy) seem to have largely ebbed away since the Corona year 2020. In 2022, the market only achieved an increase in volume of 0.8% after a 6% slump in 2021 compared to 2020, according to a study by Interconnection Consulting. Nevertheless, it should go up again moderately in the next few years. Overall, the sales volume for the five countries examined last year was 3.4 million square meters and the sales volume was around one billion euros. Due to the increase in prices, the market for partition walls increased its turnover by 12.4% in 2022. The region with the strongest momentum was the DACH region. There, sales of partition walls rose by 4.4% in terms of quantity despite weakening completions for office buildings. By 2025, the market is expected to increase in volume by 3.3% annually. In France, the market fell by 0.3% in volume. This decline was due to companies' declining willingness to invest, but was only intended to be temporary. Annual growth of 3.5% is forecast until 2025. In Italy, sales fell by 3.4% in terms of quantity. Quantitative volume is expected to slowly increase again over the next three years at an average rate of 1.6%. For the entire Europe top 5 region, the growth rate is 3.0% until 2025. Flexibility required The trend towards greater flexibility in room design shows that the demand for mobile partition walls is increasing more than for fixed solutions. Overall, the growth rate of fixed partitions is 2.5% annually until 2025, for sliding partitions 4% for the overall market. "Mobile partition walls have the advantage that they can be adapted to new spatial planning requirements, often without wasting new material," explains Johannes Lözelt, the ecological aspect of the trend. However, the fixed partition walls still dominate with a market share of 67.9% compared to the movable segment (32.1%). High prices lead to shifts In terms of quantity, aluminum is the dominant material for partitions with a share of 35.4%. wood/ other achieve a market share of 28.4%. The frameless glazed variant has a market share of 26.8% in the markets examined. Due to the strong price increases of aluminum and steel, there will be a shift in demand and frameless glazed partitions will see the largest increase with an average growth of 4.4% until 2025. Aluminum expects an average growth of 2.8% until 2025. Steel glazing, which currently has a market share of around 9%, will only grow around 2.5% annually over the next few years. The top four companies in the five countries surveyed are Clestra, Lindner, Feco and Straehle, which together hold a market share of around 13% in terms of quantity. The top 10 companies together have a market share of around 26%, in quantity.