Sales of previously-occupied homes fell by 27.2% during the month of July, hitting their lowest level in more than 15 years. Must be that patented Obamanomics at work again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 150 points since opening bell.

Update: Via Ed, how bad is this morning’s news? Bloomberg was predicting devastating housing news before the figure was announced. And yet even the news service low-balled the plummet. They estimated a 13.5% drop. Reuters guessed 12%. Boy were they off.

Update X2: Another fun fact:

The sales pace of all homes — single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — is at the lowest since NAR began tracking the figure in 1999. Sales of single-family homes, which account for a bulk of the transactions, are at the lowest level since May 1995.

What happened? It would appear that the home buyer tax credit lead people who intended to buy homes anyway — and qualified for mortgages — to move up their purchase dates. It didn’t actually create a new demand. After those people finished their purchases…the supposed demand just wasn’t there.

Government engineering of the economy fails…again.

Update X3: Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs writes on Twitter:

Boehner today embraces the return of policies that helped create the worst econ downturn since the Great Depression

Just to be clear: Unemployment rests at 9.5%, private sector wages are on the decline, banks are being shut down left and right, and housing sales are plummeting at an historical pace. But Robert Gibbs wants to dissuade Americans from changing direction. Okey dokey.

I hope all of this devastating economic data isn’t disrupting Obama’s 10-day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.