Dive summary:

• The well-regarded Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 U.S. cities appeared to put legs under the growing opinion that housing is in a recovery, showing a 2% gain over the August 2011 figures.
• The index showed home prices rising in 17 of the 20 metropolitan areas it covers, up from 16 in July. The change from the year before also was an acceleration from July's 1.2% gain and was the best year-over-year change in two years.
• Economists took note that the size of the change was increasing at a time of the year when sales usually begin to slow, though the figures are for the late summer rather than September.

From the article:

The U.S. housing market continued to gain steam in August, with new data showing that home-price increases accelerated over the month while also spreading to more cities across the country. ...