WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Purchases of new U.S. homes in September stayed close to an almost nine-year high, showing residential real estate was maintaining momentum heading into the quieter selling season. 

• Sales climbed 3.1 percent to an annualized rate of 593,000 from an August pace that was weaker than initially reported, Commerce Department data showed Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 600,000 pace in September. Purchases in June and July were revised lower.

• Estimates ranged from 518,000 to 662,000. The Commerce Department revised the August reading down to a 575,000 pace from a previously estimated 609,000. July was revised to a 629,000 rate, still leaving it at the fastest since November 2007.

• The revisions over the previous three months underscore the data’s volatility, one reason economists prefer to look at longer term trends. The report said there was 90 percent confidence the change in sales last month ranged from a 13.1 percent drop to a 19.3 percent increase.

• The residential real estate market still is supported by job-market improvement and cheap mortgage rates. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.52 percent in the week ended Oct. 20, holding near the record-low 3.31 percent reached four years ago, according to Freddie Mac figures dating to 1971.