Fall in German home building permits picks up pace, underscoring crisis By Reuters

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Building permits for apartments in Germany fell 24% in May from a year earlier, Statistics Office data showed on Thursday, underscoring a continued downturn in demand in the construction and real estate industry.

Germany’s property sector, in its third year of decline, is undergoing its most severe slump in decades.

Some 17,800 permits were issued, which is 24% fewer than a year earlier, the data showed, steeper than the previous month’s 17% fall and making for a 44% drop over the past two years.