Moneywise

With home prices continuing to rise and mortgage rates remaining stubbornly high, is the American dream of homeownership out of reach?

Home prices jumped 3.8% in February compared to the same time last year, according to the latest National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) findings. That translates to a median cost of $398,400 for a typical home.

And while mortgage rates are slowly ticking down, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage still averaged 6.65% as of March 27, according to Freddie Mac.

But it's not all bad news. Housing inventory is up 17% from a year ago (from 1.06 million to 1.24 million units), which means homebuyers now have more options.

"Homebuyers are slowly entering the market," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, in a press release. "Mortgage rates have not changed much, but more inventory and choices are releasing pent-up housing demand."

Read the full article