During the April to June period this year, German home prices fell 9.9% compared to the same period in 2022, marking the biggest fall since records began being kept in 2000, according to official data released on Friday.

Data from the German Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) showed that in the second quarter of 2022, German property prices hit a record high.

The office noted, “Since then, residential property prices have been declining quarter on quarter.”

The office found that the decrease was most pronounced on properties in the biggest cities in the nation.

The rate of the price declines were about 1.5% less than in the prior two quarters, in a comparison of the previous three months. From January to March of 2023, there was a 2.9% decrease quarter on quarter. The decline in the final quarter of 2022 was 5.1%.

The unprecedented monetary tightening campaign launched by the European Central Bank in response to raging inflation, as well as the uncertainty over new energy regulations have hit the nation’s construction sector hard.

The German-based real estate multinational Vonovia issued a warning earlier in the month, noting that Germany’s construction sector, which is vital to the national economy, was at the edge of collapsing, and was putting the entire German economy in danger.

Having enjoyed a long-lasting boom during the prior period of near-zero interest rates, and ultra-low borrowing costs, the sector now employs a million workers, and makes up 12% of the nation’s GDP.

In April, Destatis issued bleak forecasts for the construction sector, noting that the number of construction permits had been in a steady decline since May 2022, and dropped by 10% every month since October of 2022.