Tell the reader something about the industry...what it makes/does, and any relevant background. The reading: The highest mortgage rates in 23 years are dragging down home sales to their lowest levels since the subprime crisis period. Sales of previously owned homes in 2023 are expected to dwindle to a rate not seen since at least 2011, when the U.S. population was smaller and the country was still recovering from one of the worst housing crises ever, according to many economist forecasts. Chen Zhao, economics research lead at real-estate brokerage Redfin, estimated that total existing-home sales in 2023 would amount to around 4.1 million, which would mark the smallest number of sales since about 2008, the year that Lehman Brothers collapsed and sparked the global financial crisis. Zhao said sales are unlikely to pick up much next year, with mortgage rates likely to remain at elevated levels. "We're in for a fairly prolonged freeze," she said. This year's housing slowdown is very different from the previous one, after the housing bubble of the early 2000s burst. Back then, the economy entered a deep recession and millions of people lost their homes to foreclosure. This time around, home sales have been slowing