A rising number of U.S. residents in June signed contracts to buy homes. It's just one more piece of evidence that the U.S. housing market is finally recovering from its long slump.

And that's good news for the rest of the economy, too. Much of the fortunes of the U.S. economy are tied to the housing market. Simply put, if people are buying and selling homes — and taking out mortgage loans while doing it — the country's economy seems to hum along. When people are afraid to buy homes, and when sellers think they can't sell theirs for a fair price, the economy falters.

We've all seen that in a big way during the U.S. recession.

But, as a recent report on CNNMoney.com says, the increase in pending home sales — a pending home sale occurs when someone signs a contract to buy a home — is just the latest indication that the housing market is on the mend. We've also seen home sales rise in the last few months. We've also seen the first national rise in housing prices in three years.

Of course, this good news can all disappear quickly. Summer is nearing its end, and there's no guarantee that home sales will continue to increase through the fall and winter months. After all, home sales tend to fall a bit historically during these slower months. Will that traditional drop-off kill whatever momentum the housing industry is now seeing? Hard to tell.

We can all hope, though, that this recovery is a solid one, one that can withstand a few bumps in the road. There is a lot of pent-up demand out there for homes. That alone should be enough to propel the housing industry to a nice, steady recovery.