The housing market has slumped from bad to worse over the past couple of pandemic-affected years. However, this darkening outlook is not isolated, but rather part of a wider period of chaos since the turn of the millennium.

In 15 years, there has been a historic housing crash, a historic housing crunch, a historic pandemic-fueled buying spree and a historic mortgage-rate spiral. Derek Thompson, staff writer for The Atlantic and host of the “Plain English” podcast, joins Robin Young to explain what’s going on and what might come next.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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