New home sales were up in August according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, but only by 0.7 percent when compared with July. New-home sales were 429,000 in August, up from 426,000 in July; the August 2009 total was 3.4 percent less than in the same month in 2008. Reportedly economists, as polled by Thomson Reuters, were surprised that sales weren't more robust. But apparently a technical recovery from a recession isn't a terrific impetus to run out and buy a house.