The Commerce Department released the latest figures on new homes sales today.  Much to the surprise of many, new home sales rose by 2.7% in September after dropping 12.3% in August. The reason I believe sales are up is prices are down significantly creating enough bargains to get buyers off the sidelines.
Here’s the story from the FT.
Alan Ruskin of RBS Global Banking & Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut is quoted as saying: “There is a sense that home sales may have started September stronger but ended weaker and continued much softer in the current month.”  However, we know that here in the Twin Cities, despite the Wall Street problems, transactions are continuing at a rigorous pace and have not shown a corresponding slowing.
Note: the S&P/Case-Shiller Index will be released tomorrow morning. I will try to get the charts updated before noon.