{"id":73567,"date":"2026-10-25T03:38:21","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T07:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/middle-east-tensions-escalate-as-saudi-arabia-intercepts-houthi-missiles-vietnam-property-sales-hit-multi-year-low\/73567\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T03:38:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T07:38:21","slug":"middle-east-tensions-escalate-as-saudi-arabia-intercepts-houthi-missiles-vietnam-property-sales-hit-multi-year-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/middle-east-tensions-escalate-as-saudi-arabia-intercepts-houthi-missiles-vietnam-property-sales-hit-multi-year-low\/73567\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East Tensions Escalate as Saudi Arabia Intercepts Houthi Missiles; Vietnam Property Sales Hit Multi-Year Low"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Saudi Arabia intercepted multiple ballistic missiles<\/strong> and drones launched by Houthi rebels targeting major cities including <strong>Riyadh, Jeddah, and Taif<\/strong>, amid the deadliest wave of attacks in over a decade.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vietnam&#39;s property market has hit its lowest transaction volume since 2021<\/strong>, with Hanoi apartment prices nearly doubling over the last four years, pricing out the majority of domestic buyers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi<\/strong> labeled U.S. military bases a &quot;source of insecurity&quot; for the region, calling for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops to establish a collective security framework.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Serbia held high-stakes parliamentary elections<\/strong> on Sunday, where a student-led protest movement, the &quot;Student List,&quot; posed the most significant challenge to President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s 12-year rule.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mortgage rates in Vietnam have climbed to 12-15%<\/strong>, further suppressing demand as the gap between developer asking prices and buyer affordability continues to widen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Escalating Conflict in the Arabian Peninsula<\/h2>\n<p>The Saudi-led coalition reported the successful interception of several ballistic missiles and drones launched by Yemen-based Houthi rebels on <strong>October 24 and 25, 2026<\/strong>. The attacks targeted critical infrastructure, including <strong>King Khalid International Airport<\/strong> in Riyadh and <strong>Saudi Aramco (<a href=\"\/stock\/ARMCO\">ARMCO<\/a>)<\/strong> facilities in Yanbu and Rabigh. Debris from the interceptions fell in residential areas of <strong>Mecca and Medina<\/strong>, though no immediate casualties were reported from these specific incidents.<\/p>\n<p>Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree warned that international airlines should avoid Saudi airports, declaring them &quot;unsafe&quot; and active military targets. This escalation follows a series of strikes earlier in October that resulted in <strong>19 deaths and over 360 injuries<\/strong> across five Saudi airports. The surge in hostilities marks a qualitative shift in Houthi strategy, moving from Red Sea maritime targets to systematic aerial campaigns against Saudi civilian and energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n<h2>Regional Security and Iranian Diplomacy<\/h2>\n<p>Iranian Foreign Minister <strong>Abbas Araghchi<\/strong> intensified rhetoric against Western military presence, stating on Sunday that U.S. bases have become a primary liability for host nations. Araghchi argued that the region must move toward a &quot;security from within&quot; model, free from foreign interference. He cited recent regional conflicts as evidence that external military protection is an &quot;illusion&quot; that failed to prevent insecurity in the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Araghchi also criticized the financial scale of U.S. military aid to Israel, claiming Washington has spent over <strong>$11 billion on missile defense<\/strong> for the country in recent years. These comments come as Tehran seeks to strengthen ties with Moscow, with Araghchi noting that Iran and Russia are currently working more closely than at any point in their history to prevent &quot;large-scale war.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>Vietnam Property Market Stalls Amid Price Squeeze<\/h2>\n<p>Vietnam\u2019s real estate sector is facing a severe liquidity crisis, with sales volumes falling to their lowest levels since the pandemic. In <strong>Hanoi<\/strong>, the average price of new apartments has reached approximately <strong>$4,180 per square meter<\/strong>, nearly 2.5 times the cost recorded four years ago. According to data from Savills (<a href=\"\/stock\/SVS\">SVS<\/a>), the absorption rate for new supply has plummeted to <strong>31-38%<\/strong>, compared to historical norms of over 80%.<\/p>\n<p>The market is currently dominated by high-end and luxury segments, which account for over <strong>80% of new inventory<\/strong>, while affordable housing remains virtually non-existent. High borrowing costs, with floating mortgage rates reaching <strong>15%<\/strong>, have forced many prospective buyers to abandon the market. While primary prices remain high, the secondary market has seen &quot;loss-cutting&quot; sales, with some homeowners reducing prices by <strong>8-12%<\/strong> to secure cash buyers.<\/p>\n<h2>Political Shift in Serbia<\/h2>\n<p>On <strong>October 25, 2026<\/strong>, Serbia conducted a pivotal parliamentary election as the &quot;Student List&quot; movement attempted to unseat the <strong>Serbian Progressive Party (SNS)<\/strong>. The movement emerged from mass anti-corruption protests following a 2024 railway station disaster in <strong>Novi Sad<\/strong> that killed 16 people. The election is being viewed as a referendum on President <strong>Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s<\/strong> long-standing grip on power, with opposition groups fielding 250 candidates ranging from academics to athletes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Saudi Arabia intercepted multiple ballistic missiles and drones launched by Houthi rebels targeting major cities including Riyadh, Jeddah, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[23472,4664,5693,6097,6176,7692,19754,22771,23250,23471],"class_list":["post-73567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-savills-svs-stock-svs","tag-iran","tag-yemen","tag-global-security","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-houthi","tag-saudi-aramco-armco-stock-armco","tag-sns","tag-vietnam-real-estate","tag-serbia-elections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}