Home mover mortgage applications fall 10.2% and first-time buyer applications 3.5% year on year in Q3, Yorkshire Building Society finds

Mortgage applications from home movers fell 10.2% year on year to 97,732 between 29 June and 27 September 2026, while first-time buyer applications dropped 3.5% to 118,881, according to Yorkshire Building Society analysis of CACI data published on 14 October. Remortgage applications rose 12% over the same period to 114,717, a sign that more households are refinancing where they are rather than moving while borrowing costs stay high. For sellers, the sharper fall among home movers matters most, because fewer buyers who are also selling means fewer chains forming and a thinner pool of buyers trading up; for first-time buyers, demand is holding up better than further up the ladder. These are application counts rather than completions, and they are consistent with the Bank of England's Credit Conditions Survey earlier this month, which showed lenders reporting weaker purchase demand in the third quarter.