U.S. Dec. new home sales down 14.7% to lowest level ever

"U.S. new home sales fell 14.7% in December to the lowest level on record ... The decline in new-home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 331,000 was far below the 390,000 pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. New-home sales in November were revised to a 388,000 level compared with the previous estimate of 407,000. There were 482,000 new homes sold in 2008, down a record 37.9% from 776,000 sold in 2007. This is the lowest since 1982. The months' supply of homes on the market rose to 12.9 months in December from 12.5 months in November."