More bad news for the US economy: sales of existing US homes fell 2% in March.

The recently released data from the National Association of Realtors are more evidence of the continuing slump the US property market.

The euro hit new highs today on the news, surging to $1.60.

“In the United States and in the United Kingdom, it is clear that the housing boom has been a bubble,” says Lord William Rees-Mogg in Whiskey and Gunpowder.

Existing US home sales dropped in February, according a National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The NAR pending home pending home sales index, a leading indicator of existing home sales, dropped 1.9% in February. The index is down 21.4% from the February 2007 level.

There has been plenty of shrill calls for government to intervene in the housing crisis, but what can – or should – government do?

When I last commented on the bond market (December 5th’s What’s really going on with bonds), bond prices were inexplicably rallying, sending yields on ten year Treasury bonds to 4.4%.