IN OTHER WORDS, THE REPORT IS USELESS

Government Finds Seesaw View of Housing Market (The New York Times, Vikas Bajaj, 12/23/05)

New home sales make up just 15 percent of all housing sales. That is one reason economists caution against reading too much into this report. Another is its significant margin of error, which was plus or minus 8.9 percent this month, enough to erase most of the drop in sales.