Eurozone mortgage demand slumps as ECB rate rises bite - Brussels Signal

The Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarter, is seen in reflection in the window of a Real Estate office. Thierry Monasse/Getty Images Lenders forecast an even steeper drop in the final quarter, as EU housing ministers prepared for another meeting on a crisis Brussels can only watch. Demand for home loans in the eurozone has fallen far more sharply than lenders expected, according to the European Central Bank’s latest bank lending survey , published on October 27. A net 27 per cent of banks reported weaker mortgage demand in the third quarter of 2026, after a net 15 per cent in the previous three months. That was more than double the fall banks had forecast three months earlier, which stood at a net 12 per cent.