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46 | TH E M R EP O RT O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST DATA Ranking Recoveries Five new metros have joined the list of cities with "fully recovered" housing markets, including Minneapolis and San Diego. T hough some metros have recovered since the housing crash and recession of 2008, some areas still lag behind. With help from the Federal Housing and Finance Agency's Home Price Index, HSH.com ranked the top and bottom 10 metros in terms of housing market recovery. Though the metros in the top 10 have not changed since last quarter, all of them moved further above "boom-time" peaks for home prices, which tightens their hold on their prospective positions. The bottom 10 markets also have not changed, but two no - table moves in the category were that of the Las Vegas metro area, which relinquished its position as the metro with the greatest gap between peak time and now to Bakersfield, California. Though prices continue to improve steadily over the U.S., Camden, New Jersey's distance to its former high point 10 years ago has grown this quarter, moving it further down the list. Five metro areas joined the "fully recovered" group, including Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota-Wisconsin; Montgomery-Bucks-Chester counties, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; San Diego-Carlsbad, California; and Warren-Troy- Farmington Hills, Michigan. Returning again after recovering and then falling back in Q1 2016 was the Akron, Ohio metro. The "nearly recovered" group, likely to be next in line to hit "fully recovered" in the next quarter, includes the Tacoma-Lakewood, Washington, and Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio, metro areas. Though the El Paso, Texas, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California, areas were close, they need to see prices rise by more than two percentage points to be included in the "nearly recovered" group. Even though many markets have yet to come close to their boom-year price peaks, accord - ing to HSH.com, they have seen significant price recoveries since hitting their bottom values. They predict that home prices in areas like Las Vegas may have been in - flated to such a degree that their "normal" value may still be well below their previous price peak. Want to Buy or Need to Buy? That's the Question A new survey shows Pennsylvania buyers are largely purchasing homes because they want to, not because they need to. M ore new homebuy- ers bought homes out of personal desire rather than necessity in the second quarter of 2017, according to the Pennsylva - nia Association of Realtors (PAR) and The Welcome Home. According to a survey by the two groups, 31 percent of recent Pennsylvania buyers purchased homes because they wanted to—either to start building per - sonal equity, to move to a good school district, to have a larger yard, to purchase a vacation home, or to stop renting. Just 26 percent of homebuyers in the state said their primary reason for purchasing a home was due to a sudden or unexpected change to their life, such as a death in the family, pregnancy, financial hardship, marriage, divorce, or health reasons. Nearly 20 percent of homebuy - ers cited relocation as their reason for purchasing a home, which falls somewhere between the want and need category. PAR found that "want-to-buy" purchasers were nearly twice as likely to secure a loan with the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and purchase mortgage insurance, thereby avoiding the required 20 percent down pay - ment. Out of those surveyed, 35 percent of "need-to-buy" custom- ers purchased their homes with cash, as opposed to 23 percent of "want-to-buy" purchasers. Both "need-to-buy" and "want-to-buy" purchasers had similar penchants for securing their home with a traditional 30-year mortgage at 37 percent and 40 percent, respec - tively. Whether out of perceived necessity or choice, people in Pennsylvania are buying—home sales across the state are up 10 percent in the second quarter year-over-year, and new listings have dropped 8 percent from the previous quarter. Average sale prices are also up 1.7 percent at $175,000. Though the metros in the top 10 have not changed since last quarter, all of them moved further above "boom-time" peaks for home prices, which tightens their hold on their prospective positions.