Berlin, April 26 : The crisis in Germany's housing sector has worsened, with new orders in building construction falling by 29 per cent year-on-year in February, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said. The decline in building construction was also reflected in a drop in new orders for the construction industry as a whole, which were down 15.4 per cent year-on-year in February, Xinhua news agency reported citing Destatis as saying. At the same time, industry sales only fell 6.8 per cent, it added. "Residential construction is in freefall," said Tim-Oliver Mueller, chief executive of the German Construction Industry Association. "Skyrocketing construction costs are driving projects into inefficiency," Mueller added. Due to increased interest and material costs, the number of building permits in Germany fell for the 10th month in a row in February, Destatis said. Only 22,300 new homes were approved, 20.6 per cent fewer than in the same month last year. "The order books are running dry," said Felix Pakleppa, chief executive of the German Construction Federation (ZDB), urging "clear and simple funding conditions as quickly as possible" to meet the rising demand for housing. In 2022, Germany again missed its target of 400,000 new homes per year. The government does not expect to reach the target for this year either. Record immigration is exacerbating the housing shortage in Germany. According to official figures, more than 1.4 million people arrived in the country last year, mainly from the war-torn Ukraine. As a result, the country's population rose to an all-time high of 84.3 million. /IANS