It looks like most homeowners can be house proud again, as nationwide, home values for the majority of U.S. cities are now at or above pre-recession levels. But most is not everyone, and  Arizona’s major metros are lagging behind.

Phoenix is still five percent below its pre-recession peak. Tucson is 16 percent behind. Daren Blomquist is with ATTOM Data Solutions, which analyzed 105 cities across the country this last quarter and found more than half, 54 percent, now have median home prices above pre-recession levels.

“Tucson and Phoenix are in a different camp where we are seeing steady and even pretty healthy home price appreciation and I would characterize those markets as probably booming, but because they dropped so dramatically during the downturn, they have a deeper hole to dig out of," said Blomquist.

Blomquist said to keep in mind the different kinds of markets that are lagging: markets that are just slower to recover overall and markets that have a higher comeback to climb post-recession, like Phoenix and Tucson.

In markets that are slower to recover, Blomquist said homeowners have been staying in homes longer as values appreciate. This last quarter, though, data show homeowners beginning to change that.

"It’s actually a good sign to see that starting to go down, because that would be an indication that more homeowners, rather than continue to stick it out, are saying ‘ok, yes, it’s time to sell’,” he said.

Blomquist also said another trend re-emerging in larger metro areas, including Phoenix, is an influx of investment from institutional buyers of residential real-estate, which often purchase starter homes.