The pace steadily rose in August from the same time last year. It’s a sure sign that the housing marketing is improving in spite of an overall slowdown in our economy.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5.1% in the 12 months ending in August, according to figures released Tuesday. That's up from a 4.9% pace in July.

Home prices have risen at a 5% pace for the better part of this year, which economists define as more sustainable than last year's double-digit gains. This can be attributed to a few specific factors: three years of solid hiring and historically low mortgage rates have enabled more Americans to buy homes. That's helped by lifting sales of existing homes nearly 9% in just the past year.

“Sales of existing homes jumped 4.7% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.5 million. That's a reassuring sign that the housing sector has so far been insulated from weaker growth overseas that is slowing growth in the U.S. manufacturing and energy sectors.”