In a welcome departure from the national and local coverage of the presidential election, here’s some good news: sales are way up, foreclosures are leveling off and the housing market is barreling ahead into the fall.

Two releases from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, note that statewide single-family sales in August were up nearly 10 percent over last year – in fact, the strongest August for sales since 1999. Condominium sales were also up by nearly 15 percent for the month. Also in August, the rate of foreclosure petitions finally started to stabilize after more than two years of increases; starts were up just .7 percent in August compared to last year.

Prices continue to climb, but modestly – the median sale price for a condo in August rose 4.5 percent over last year; year to date the median price is up only 3.1 percent. Single-families too have seen increases – for the month, up just shy of 2 percent, and for the year, 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile we may have finally reached the promised land of a stabilized foreclosure rate. Foreclosure petitions have been all over the map over the past three years, but the rate at which they began to climb in early 2014 was startling, to say the least. Year-over-year increases in the triple digits were the new norm – though the comparison to 2013, when there were barely any starts, made for an unusually low baseline.

But when rates continued to increase sharply in 2015 and the beginning part of this year, murmurs of concern became roars of cries of despair. One advocacy group argued the current rate of foreclosures is worse than anything Massachusetts has seen since the run up to the American Revolution in 1763. (The Warren Group’s database of home sales transactions, while remarkable in its depth and breadth, does not date to 1763; Banker & Tradesman was unable to independently verify this statement.)

August’s foreclosure rate continues the slowdown that arguably began in June: in that month, starts were up 13 percent; in July, they were down 1.15 percent; and in August, rose just .7 percent – that’s a difference of seven petitions, for those keeping track at home.

All of which is good news for the Bay State. Much has been made of our state’s exorbitantly expensive cost of living – including coverage in this newspaper – and that remains as true as ever. Not to be a downer, but nothing about August’s stats suggests that we should abandon ambitious plans for additional home construction (especially of the “affordable” variety), or that all our economic and social problems are solved.

But though we may keep a wary eye on the horizon for the storm clouds, we must also exalt in the sun when it shines. August – both its weather and its housing numbers – was a stretch of sunny days.