It is likely that apartment rents will rise in 2011, so many prospective first-time home seekers are asking themselves, “Is now the time to take the plunge into homeownership?”

If you have a steady job, some down payment money in the bank and a yearning to stop collecting rent receipts, there are some compelling reasons to buy a home or condominium now.

According to figures published by the National Association of Realtors, housing in the fourth quarter of 2010 was the most affordable on record dating back to 1971.

“A spot survey of 40 current lakefront condo listings along Sheridan Road in East Rogers Park on Chicago’s Far North Side reflects bottom-of-the-market asking prices ranging from $39,000 to $69,900 for 1-bedroom units,” said Realtor Sara Benson, president of Benson Stanley Realty. “The active listings included a mix of units being sold at auction, short sales and very motivated sellers.”

With more bargain-hunting first-time buyers coming off the fence, the RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network noted a rebound in the housing market at the end of 2010.

“Sales were meaningfully higher in December than in either October or November, which is both unusual and a sign that the market is gaining traction,” said Jim Merrion, regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois.

Today’s near record-low mortgage rates are another force luring first-time buyers into the housing market.

In early February, lenders were charging 4.81 percent on benchmark 30-year fixed mortgages, reported Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Last year at this time, 30-year fixed loans averaged 5.01 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 3.26 percent in early February. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.22 percent.

Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist of Freddie Mac, noted that mortgage rates currently are relatively stable because the economy improved and inflation remained in check at the end of 2010.

In the fourth quarter, the economy grew at a 3.2 percent annualized rate, compared to 2.6 percent in the third quarter, and was led by a 4.4 percent gain in consumer spending, Nothaft said. In addition, the core price index for consumer expenditures rose by an annualized rate of 0.4 percent, which was the smallest increase ever since records began in 1959.

However, Marc Kramer of American Bank & Trust based in west suburban Lisle, noted that he expects home loan interest rates to gradually increase over time as the economy improves in 2011.

“The slow pace of the recovery and low inflation rate do not give the Federal Reserve Board any reason to influence the pace of home-loan rate increases,” said Kramer, who is predicting benchmark interest rates of 4.75 percent to 4.875 percent at the beginning of 2011, and 5 percent to 5.5 percent by the end of the year.

“The financial problems and uncertainties in Europe as well as the pace of the recovery could influence this forecast,” Kramer said. “The good news is that historically speaking, 2011 should still offer exceptionally low rates.”