European residential construction: Moderate recovery after a dramatic slumpSelected results of the Euroconstruct Summer Conference 2011

After a dramatic fall, especially in 2008 and 2009, European residential construction will begin to pick up somewhat this year. An increase of almost 2% in 2011 will be followed by growth of around 2½% in 2012 and around 3% in 2013. This is the conclusion of the experts of the Euroconstruct Group at their recent meeting in Helsinki. Residential construction activity will be clearly dominated by construction measures on existing buildings although the new construction sector with display an average growth of just over 4% per year during the forecast period from 2011 to 2013, expanding about three times more strongly than measures on existing buildings. Housing completions will bottom out, with nearly 1.43 million residential units expected to be finished this year. In 2013 a return the mark of 1.5 million completions is expected.