President Donald Trump has received another bleak economic report, with existing-home sales falling to their lowest level in more than 16 years amid soaring, war-fueled inflation that has pushed mortgage rates close to levels not seen in a quarter-century, the Financial Times reports.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), whose monthly tally tracks completed sales of previously owned homes, existing-home sales dropped 5.5 percent in October from the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million — the total that would be sold over a full year if October's pace, adjusted for seasonal patterns, held steady. That marked the weakest sales pace since August 2010, when the United States was still recovering from the housing crash, and came in below the 3.85 million rate economists had forecast.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun attributed the decline to borrowing costs. Buying a home, he said, "is difficult when mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels since 2000" — with the exception of one month in 2023.

The elevated inflation stems from Trump's war with Iran. The FT reported that energy prices driven higher by the conflict have pushed up inflation, which in turn has lifted Treasury yields and mortgage rates — a pass-through that matters because fixed-rate mortgages are typically priced off the long end of the bond market. In early October, mortgage rates climbed to 7.5 percent, a three-year high, though they have since eased slightly. The yield on the 30-year Treasury now stands above 5.4 percent — a far cry from pre-pandemic levels — leaving some Americans unable to afford mortgages for new purchases or refinancing.

Earlier this year, Trump announced that the government would purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds in order to bring rates down, as reported by the Washington Examiner. However, a June analysis by the liberal Center for American Progress found that the war has actually raised long-term rates by an estimated half a percentage point.

Other indicators in the housing market appear equally grim. The pending home sales rate, which tracks contracts that are signed but not yet closed, hit a record low in September; such contracts usually close in the following month or two, making the series a commonly used early signal of where closed sales are headed. Unsold inventory is also mounting: the NAR put housing stock at 1.59 million units in October, equivalent to 5.1 months of supply — a figure analysts at Barclays and JPMorgan said was the highest seen in more than a decade, in a market where roughly six months of supply is conventionally viewed as the balance point between buyers and sellers.

Adding to the pressure, the Federal Reserve — which Trump has repeatedly pushed to cut rates during his presidency — hiked its benchmark interest rate in September for the first time in three years in order to combat inflation. Futures markets show that a quarter-point rate hike next month, along with another increase by March, are fully priced in.

Analysts at Jefferies noted that home sales tend to lag behind shifts in mortgage rates, meaning the rise in rates in October is unlikely to be fully reflected in sales data until November and December, with further weakness possible.

The disappointing housing figures arrive at a difficult moment for the White House. According to the FT, voter anger over affordability was a key factor in the Democrats' victory in last week's midterms, and the latest existing-home sales data is unlikely to ease voters' concerns.