A similar situation is playing out in Europe, where higher rates and soaring construction costs threaten to intensify supply strains. In Germany, new building permits fell more than 27% in the first half of the year, and in France they dropped 28% through July. Sweden, suffering its worst slump since a crisis in the 1990s, has building rates running at less than a third what’s deemed necessary to keep up with demand, threatening to further test the limits of affordability.