Marketwatch reports that new home sales have fallen after five straight months of gains. New home sales fell 3.6% in September, 2009 compared to August, 2009 and 7.6% compared to September, 2008.
The decline in new-home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000 was well below the 438,000 pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. New-home sales in August were revised to a 417,000 level compared with the previous estimate of 429,000. This is the first decline in new home sales after five consecutive monthly gains. New-home sales are down 7.8% compared with a year ago.
This news combined with yesterday's report of falling consumer confidence has sent stocks falling but it is not surprising considering that new jobs are not being created to pull the economy out of the recession.
