Mortgage rates have been low for a while. They remain low. Unusually low. Attractively low. You don’t really expect them to stay this low forever…do you?

A recent article in The Business Journel, covering the Triad Area of Greensboro and Winston/Salem , North Carolina stated that ” Freddie Mac says the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 4.78 percent this week from 4.85 percent last week. It is the lowest 30-year rate since Freddie Mac started its weekly survey in 1971.” Wow!

I used to be a bank manager. Back in 1968, when I started my banking career, we offered rates higher than what are available today. These are historically low rates, but they will not last. Last Friday, Jack Koskinen, interim chief executive of Freddie Mac, said that home loan rates are near the bottom and any further decrease will be small. Mr. Koskinen commented on mortgage rates after he attended the meeting between President Obama and the CEO’s of the financial services companies no Capitol Hill.

So, if mortgage rates are near the bottom, what will happen next? Do you think the will simply stay low? Or do you think rate might move up? If you are planning to make that long awaited plunge into the Fremont, Ca. real estate market and buy your first home, this may be the best time to do it. If Pleasanton real estate is on your mind, this is a great time to get serious about that larger home that you have always wanted. If you are hoping for a Newark, Ca. home that is just across the Dumbarton Bridge from your Silicon Valley job this could be the opportunity that you are awaiting.

For real estate opportunities in Livermore, Hayward, Dublin, Milpitas, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Danville or San Ramon…really, anywhere…you may regret your procrastination if you do not act before rates move up.