Housing prices improve in August, Case-Shiller says

The U.S. housing sector's long, slow journey to health continues, as home prices in 20 cities rose 1.2 percent in August from the month before, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price survey. However, prices were still down year-over-year, declining at a 11.3 percent annual pace in August. This is the smallest decline since January 2008.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected the Case-Shiller Home Price Index to fall at a 11.9 percent annual rate in August. The index fell 13.3 percent July, 15.4 percent in June, and 17.1 percent in May.