Workers are seen framing a home on a construction site.

The war with Iran is putting new pressure on an issue President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans cannot afford to lose sight of before the midterm elections: housing affordability.

Rising diesel prices are making it more expensive to build homes at a time when buyers are already confronting high mortgage rates and a limited supply of affordable options. The national average price of on-highway diesel recently reached $5.65 a gallon, nearly $2 higher than a year ago, according to Energy Information Administration data.

Diesel does not show up directly on a homebuyer’s closing documents, but it touches nearly every part of the construction process. It fuels the trucks that deliver lumber, concrete and appliances, as well as the heavy equipment that prepares lots and builds new homes.

The Trump administration has made lowering housing costs a central second-term goal, focusing on reducing regulations, speeding up permitting and increasing supply. But the conflict in Iran has created a new economic headwind: higher energy costs that can erase savings elsewhere in the building process.

Builders are already contending with elevated financing, labor and material costs. Add more expensive fuel, and it becomes harder to deliver the lower-priced homes families need.

That leaves the administration with a difficult task heading into November: making progress on affordability while an overseas war raises costs at home.

Posted by Amanda Macias