The past few years have seen new norms take shape in the housing market. One of those is that of low interest rates. Homebuyers looking for a cheap mortgage or a homeowner looking for a remortgage expect for lenders to compete for their attention with attractive deals. Low interest rates have become the norm. Another trend is that of rising house prices.

In a recent survey conducted by the Dutch Bank ING, almost 75% of UK citizens polled expect house prices to rise over the next year. More than half of Europeans expect house prices to increase as well.

Ian Bright, an economist with ING said, “House prices are on the up in many European countries and consumers remain bullish that this will continue. As a result, we're seeing more people viewing property as an important financial asset – including countries where renting is the norm – but there is also frustration with property being increasing unaffordable.”

High demand for property in the UK and a low supply of new houses coming onto the market has pushed house prices upward as demand has remained strong. The average house price was set at the beginning of the year to rise 3% to 5%, but the close of the year could see an increase of almost double that from 6% to 9% according to experts.

Homebuyers seeking to get a new home before prices increase further and while interest rates remain low are expected to push demand higher. For while there is a high expectation for house prices to rise further, so is there an expectation that the Bank’s interest rate will soon increase for the first time since March 2009. It is this reason that homeowners are expected to show greater demand for low interest rate remortgages.

While the low interest rates and rising house prices have become the norm, a change is in the wind as borrowers should expect 2016 to bring higher interest rates which should lower demand for house purchases.