Ongoing instability in the Middle East has rippled into one corner of the economy like a “blood-stained hellscape,” according to one Fox Business analysis.
“It’s bad news all around, isn’t it?”
(Video Credit: Fox Business)
Saturday marked four weeks since Operation Epic Fury commenced military strikes against Iran’s Islamist regime, and in that time, the price of crude oil has climbed roughly 50%. Addressing the broader impact that has on the economy, Fox Business host Stuart Varney turned to his guest, anticipating a dire impact on housing.
Joined by Circle Squared Alternative Investments founder Jeff Sica, the host of “Varney & Co.” expressed, “Jeff, we’ve got oil this morning at $102 a barrel, and we’ve got gasoline at $4 a gallon. What’s the effect of these high energy prices on the housing market? It’s bad news all around, isn’t it?”
“It is bad news, Stuart. And high energy prices are kryptonite for the housing market,” contended the investor. “The best way to describe the housing market has been a blood-stained hellscape because of what’s happening with interest rates.”
Admitting, “I’m being a little overly dramatic,” Sica continued, “What I would say is, if you look at what we were hoping for, we were hoping for rates to come down and for mortgages to be affordable. We were also hoping for construction costs to come down.”
“Now we get hit with this double wave of negatives, which are … construction costs are going up — because when oil goes up in price, everything goes up in price — and mortgage rates are not gonna come down,” he went on, explaining the trend between the U.S. 10 Year Treasury yield and mortgage rates. “… affordability, especially for those first-time home buyers, is now an elusive dream until oil prices come down and interest rates come down.”
Following a vote from the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged earlier in March, Fed Chair Jerome Powell maintained that he was remaining in his position if a successor is not confirmed before the end of his term in May.
Monday, Powell spoke at Harvard University, where he floated the possibility that interest rates could even go up because of the impact of military operations in Iran on the economy, telling the audience, “… we don’t know what the economic effects” may be. “We feel like our policies are in a good place for us to wait and see how that turns out.”
Meanwhile, Varney called out, “The average gallon of diesel is $5.41. That is up $1.66 in a month. That’s highly inflationary.”
“When diesel prices are up, when oil prices are up, it affects everything,” reacted Sica. “So you’ll see in the housing numbers, you’re gonna see a slowdown in construction, which is very, very negative.”
Regarding U.S. operations, President Donald Trump provided an update Monday, stating on Truth Social, “The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.”
“Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched,'” asserted the commander-in-chief. “This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime’s 47 year ‘Reign of Terror.’ Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 30, 2026
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