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Read the results of the fifth annual Alex Partners Disruption. Hey what's news listeners, it's Sunday, February 11th.

I'm Luke Vargas.

And I'm Anne Marie Fertoli for the Wall Street Journal. This is What's News Sunday, the show where we tackle

the big questions about the biggest stories in the news. We reach out to our colleagues across

the newsroom to help explain what's happening in our world.

This week we're answering your questions about the state of the housing market, considering everything

from what future interest rate moves mean for those of you looking to rent or buy to how to know when

it's the right time to refinance, as well as a whole lot more in between.

All right, let's do it.

First off, let's quickly recap the overall state of the housing market, starting with a look at mortgage rates. According to Freddie Mac, the average rate on a 30-year fixed is 6.63%, or about 3 percentage

points higher than before the pandemic, making borrowing for a house a much more expensive proposition than at any time in recent years.

Add to that home prices are also increasing,

with the National Association of Realtors saying that existing single-family homes sold in December, on average, fetched $387,000 up from

$277,000 in December 2019. And partly as a result, that's led home sales down to their lowest level in almost 30 years.

So what does all of that mean for people looking to get on the property ladder or to put their money into some real estate.

With me I've got two journal reporters who can dissect it all.

Will Parker writes about the housing and residential real estate market and Veronica Dagger is a journal Personal Finance reporter. and and the state of the housing supply. Is there one of these that's kind of the

driving factor now that explains the state of the housing market as a whole,

a market that's become tricky really for many people to navigate?

It's hard to pick one but I think home prices might become tricky really for many people to navigate.

It's hard to pick one, but I think home prices might be it,

...