A recent survey and a rate increase could mean more new home buyers coming into the marketplace.

Recent indication is that first time home buyers are getting tired of sitting on the sidelines in this buyer's market.

In a recent online poll taken by the National Apartment Association, 17 percent of renters plan to make the jump to home ownership in the next year and some 41 percent of the 2,041 respondents planned to be home owners within two years. Just 31 percent planned to still be paying rent five years from now.

If we are to believe these numbers some 41% of the current apartment dwellers are going to take a hard look at our current near perfect buyer's market in the next two years and and additional 28% by the year 2013.

These new buyers will discover that they can own more home than they had imagined. Qualified first time home buyers will also find that financing is still posible and that in most states and markets down payment grants and assistance is available as well.

Programs such as the FHA down payment assistance and community redevelopment programs offer affordable housing opportunities to first-time homebuyers, low-income and moderate-income individuals and families who wish to achieve homeownership. Contact your licensed Realtor or Mortgage Broker for the specifics on these and other programs and to pre-qualify.

Another factor that could very soon contribute to an increase in home buying could be rising mortgage costs. Fixed-rate mortgage rates rose to 6.32 percent, the highest it has been since October. After months of aggressively dropping interest rates, many lenders are worried that the Fed will be forced to raise rates back up. As interest rates rise, so do mortgage rates. According to a press release on freddiemac.com, Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist said that, "Mortgage rates jumped this week after a number of Federal Reserve officials, most notably Chairman [Ben] Bernanke and Vice Chair [Donald] Kohn, expressed concern over a threat of inflation." We may very well be seeing the beginning of the end of the super-low mortgage and potential buyers may realize that with rising rates, now may be the time to jump in. Nothaft added, "Moreover, pending home sales for April unexpectedly rose by 6.3% and mortgage applications for home purchases ... were also up last week."