[ANSA] The sale of existing homes in the U.S. in July collapsed to the lowest since 1999 . Last month, according to the National Association of Realtors, sales fell by 27.2% to 3.83 million units, even worse than the estimates of analysts who had expected a decline of 13.4%.Sales of detached houses dropped to the lowest since May 1995. ''The recovery of real estate and is linked to the recovery of the labor market in the U.S.'', said one analyst, noting that ''low interest rates are not enough to revive the real estate sector.''
On August 19 the average rate on 30-year loans in the U.S. stood at an historic low of 4.42%, according to data from Freddie Mac. Earlier in the year the market showed signs of recovery thanks to an incentive tax of $8,000, which lasted until April 30.
DOW JONES BELOW 10,000 U.S. HOMES SALES SLUMP AFTER
The Dow Jones dropped below the psychological threshold of 10,000 points after the collapse of home sales in the United States. Shortly after the statistical index went up to 10,061.