Every few weeks a chart makes the rounds showing the U.S. housing market splitting in two — the Sun Belt rolling over, the Midwest and Northeast still climbing. On October 9, housing analyst Nick Gerli published the state-by-state version of that chart: home value change since the June 2022 peak. Indiana came in at #10, up 14.8%.

I don’t take a chart’s word for it, including that one. I pulled the Zillow research files that chart is built from and ran the numbers myself, then went two levels deeper into the county and ZIP data underneath. Two things came out of it. Gerli’s national read holds up to the decimal. And the local picture below it is more useful than the headline — in one specific way nobody has mentioned.

That specific way: Indiana is not recovering from a 2022 peak. Indiana is at a peak. August 2026 is the highest reading in the entire Zillow series going back to January 2000. So when you read “up 14.8% since the 2022 peak,” the honest version is “up 14.8% and still at a new high.”

The National Picture — Every State Since June 2022

Here are the ten states that gained the most since June 2022, with the national benchmark and the state that lost the most.

Source: Zillow Home Value Index, all homes (single-family, condo and co-op), 35th–65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted. Data through August 31, 2026; files pulled October 12, 2026. National ranking first observed by Nick Gerli of Reventure App, October 9, 2026.

What Indiana’s #10 Ranking Actually Says

Connecticut gained 27.5% since June 2022. Indiana gained 14.8%. There are two ways to read that gap, and both are true.

The comparative read: Indiana gained a bit more than half what the top state did. If you already own a home here, that is a real number — the typical Indiana home is worth roughly $33,600 more than it was in June 2022.

The opening read: at $260,095, the typical Indiana home is $108,601 below the national figure and $190,778 below Connecticut’s. Indiana prices climbed steadily rather than sharply. The value story here is not “prices exploded.” It is “prices kept going and the entry point stayed reachable.”

The contrast at the other end is the part that makes the chart worth reading. Arizona is down 8.8% since June 2022 — and it actually peaked a month later than the rest of the country, in July 2022, at $462,506. The typical Arizona home has given back $44,516 of that. Several Texas metros are worse: Austin is down 26.8% from the 2022 peak. That is what happens when a market runs hard on cheap money and then rates reset to near 7%. Indiana did not run that hard, and it has not given much back.

The Part the Headline Skips — Indiana Is at a New High

“Since the June 2022 peak” is the way almost everybody frames this chart, and it quietly implies that June 2022 was the top and everything since is a partial recovery. For a handful of states, that framing is wrong in a way that matters.

The peak month is the single highest monthly reading in each state’s series from January 2000 through August 2026. For Indiana, Connecticut, Illinois and Wisconsin that month is the most recent one in the file.

Indiana home values are at their highest level on record, and that record is the most recent month in the file. That is a meaningfully different statement than “up 14.8% since the 2022 peak,” and for anyone weighing a decision, it is the more relevant one. There is no giveback to recover from here. The climb is current.

The Driver — Inventory, and Where That Story Breaks Down

The standard explanation for the Midwest and Northeast streak is scarcity: far fewer homes for sale than before the pandemic, so the ones that come up get bid up. That checks out in the states that led the list.

Source: Zillow for-sale inventory, all homes. Raw counts, not seasonally adjusted. Data through August 31, 2026; pulled October 12, 2026.

Connecticut has 60% fewer homes listed than it did in August 2019. Illinois is down 54%. That is the scarcity story, and it is real where it applies. Arizona — the state that lost the most — is carrying 5% more inventory than pre-pandemic.

Indiana, though, does not fit that template. The statewide for-sale count is 26,508, down only 6.7% from August 2019 and actually up 8.7% from a year ago. Indiana does not have a 30-to-60% inventory shortage. So the appreciation here is not simply a scarcity scramble — that matters, because it means Indiana’s gain is not resting on the same thin supply that is doing the work in Connecticut.

Inside Northwest Indiana, though, the story splits by county:

Source: Zillow for-sale inventory, all homes. Raw counts. Data through August 31, 2026.

Porter and La Porte counties are still carrying roughly 27 to 30% fewer listings than in 2019 — much closer to the Northeast pattern than to the statewide figure. Lake County is closer to normal at −15.2%, and it is the only one of the three where inventory actually fell over the past year.

County Level — the Growth Ran Where Prices Were Lowest

Here is where the local data stops echoing the national one. In Northwest Indiana, the strongest appreciation since June 2022 was not in the most expensive county. It was in the cheapest one.

Source: Zillow Home Value Index, all homes, 35th–65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted. Data through August 31, 2026. Starke County is outside the three-county core and is included for regional context.

La Porte County is up 21.4% since June 2022, roughly double Lake and Porter counties. Starke County — the smallest and lowest-priced of the four — is up 27.1%, ahead of every state on the national list except Connecticut. Both of those counties are at the affordable end.

Porter County, the most expensive of the three core counties at $332,910, has grown the least. The pattern is consistent: the further up the price ladder you go, the more the last four years look like a flat line.

ZIP Level — Town by Town

County averages hide a lot. Here is what the ZIP-level Zillow data shows across the towns most of our readers live in.

Source: Zillow Home Value Index, all homes, 35th–65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, by ZIP code. Data through August 31, 2026; pulled October 12, 2026. Values are the typical home in each ZIP, not an average of sales.

The spread is wide. Michigan City’s typical home is up 22.7% since June 2022 and 5.1% over the past year. St. John’s is up 5.3% and 1.8%. Same region, same rate environment, four times the four-year gain.

Indiana home values are not one market. They are at least a dozen, and the ZIP you live in sets yours.

Portage deserves a straight answer, because it is the one that breaks the pattern: up 9.6% since June 2022, but only 0.4% over the past twelve months. That is effectively flat. If you own in Portage and you have been told the market is running away, your ZIP’s own data does not say that. It says your typical home value is essentially where it was a year ago, about $24,000 above where it was in mid-2022.

Three years of this trend also says something about who benefited. The ZIPs that gained most — Michigan City, Hobart, La Porte — are the lower-priced end of the market. The ZIPs that gained least — St. John, Crown Point, Valparaiso — are the top of it. The appreciation has largely been an entry-level and mid-market story.

Supply — the Number That Decides Most of It

None of the above tells you what it costs to buy or sell here right now. This does.

Local data: NIRA MLS FastStats, August 2026. National data: National Association of REALTORS®, August 2026. Three months of supply is the standard balanced-market benchmark.

Our three counties are carrying roughly 2.3 to 2.9 months of supply against 4.9 nationally. That is the environment the appreciation has been running in — not a flood of inventory, but not the extreme shortage the Northeast is working with either. It sits close to the three-month line that has historically marked a balanced market.

What This Means for Buyers and Sellers Here

The Short Version

Indiana home values are up 14.8% since June 2022 — 10th best of 51 states and D.C. — and August 2026 is the highest reading in Zillow’s series back to 2000. That is not a recovery from the 2022 peak; it is a current high. The national gain over the same window is 5.6%, and Arizona is down 8.8%.

In Northwest Indiana, La Porte County led the three core counties at +21.4%, ahead of Lake (+11.9%) and Porter (+11.4%). At the ZIP level, Michigan City is up 22.7% and Portage is up 9.6% with essentially no movement over the past year. And the whole region is carrying 2.3 to 2.9 months of supply against 4.9 nationally.

The chart is real. The local read under it is what decides anything.

Every story this week says the same thing — the national foreclosure surge is real, banks repossessed 42% more homes than a year ago, and one state got hammered. The New York Post ran it under that exact headline. The 42% is correct. I went to the source.

I pulled ATTOM’s August 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, the release behind that New York Post article, and read it against our own Northwest Indiana numbers. I built and sold a business before I did this full time, so I read reports the way an operator does — what does the number cost me, what does it pay me, and is it actually the number they say it is. On this one, three things in the underlying data change the story the headline tells. One of them is Indiana’s own ranking, which has moved in a direction almost nobody has reported.

August 2026: The Headline Numbers

Source: ATTOM, August 2026 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, released September 17, 2026.

One Stage of Three — What Actually Moved

A foreclosure is not an event. It is a process with three stages: the default notice that starts it, the scheduled auction in the middle, and the completed foreclosure — the REO — at the end, when the lender takes the deed back. ATTOM publishes all three every month. Only one of them jumped.

Read those three rows together and the pipeline is draining, not filling. New foreclosures barely moved — they fell 3% from July and are up only 7% from a year ago. What surged is the inventory emptying out the far end of a process that started twelve to twenty-four months ago. That is the difference between more homes going bad and the same homes finishing what already started.

Three Things the National Foreclosure Surge Headline Leaves Out

1. It is one stage, not the whole process

The 42% applies to completed foreclosures only — 4,080 properties in August 2025 against 5,794 in August 2026. Total filings grew 13% over the same window. If the market were entering a genuine foreclosure wave, starts would lead and completions would follow. Here the last stage is running hot while the first stage is flat to down.

2. It is measured against a floor, not a norm

A percentage only means something next to its reference point. Set against historical volume, the 42% increase is still roughly half a normal year.

2019 and 2010 derived from ATTOM’s Year-End 2019 and 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Reports (143,955 and 1,050,500 REOs for the year).

August 2026 completed foreclosures are about 48% of the 2019 monthly average and about 7% of the 2010 peak. ATTOM says it plainly in the release: “overall foreclosure activity remains below pre-pandemic norms.” Rob Barber, ATTOM’s CEO, called the current picture “pockets of financial stress rather than widespread distress across the housing market.” A 42% jump from a floor is still a floor.

3. “Hit hardest” means volume, not severity

The state the headline points at is Texas — 1,835 completed foreclosures in August, more than three times California’s 589. That is a real number and Texas is genuinely the center of the REO pipeline right now. But it is a count, and counts reward big states.

Ranked by foreclosure rate, Texas sits fourth, behind South Carolina, Nevada and Florida. South Carolina had the worst rate in the country in August — one foreclosure filing for every 1,547 housing units, against a national rate of one in 3,569. Texas also runs one of the fastest foreclosure timelines in the country, which pushes its pipeline to completion sooner and inflates REO counts without saying anything about how many homeowners are actually struggling. Counting repossessions tells you where the biggest states are. Measuring the rate tells you where the pain is.

Indiana: From #1 in the Country to #6

Here is the part almost nobody has connected. Earlier this year Indiana was the worst foreclosure state in America — that was the story in February 2026, when we wrote about it here. In August, Indiana ranked sixth.

Both figures are ATTOM monthly rates for the month shown, so they compare directly. Indiana recorded 1,174 foreclosure filings against 2,976,568 housing units in August 2026.

That is a 37% improvement in Indiana’s monthly foreclosure rate in six months, while the national conversation kept describing us as ground zero. It matters because a reader in Valparaiso or Chesterton who sees “Indiana is the worst” assumes the distress is next door. It is not.

The four Indiana counties with the worst August foreclosure rates were Madison, Clinton, Grant and Huntington — Anderson, Frankfort, Marion and Huntington. Not one of them is in Northwest Indiana. Indiana’s foreclosure problem concentrates in the mid-size industrial counties in the middle of the state, and within Lake County, along the Gary–Hammond–East Chicago corridor that I do not work. Porter County logged 18 foreclosure complaints on the courthouse docket for the year through early June, against 175 in Lake County. And 42% of the distressed owners in Lake County do not live at the property — a landlord or inherited-property profile, not a family losing its home.

What It Means in Lake, Porter and LaPorte County

So what does the national foreclosure surge actually look like in our three counties? Here is August 2026 side by side with the national picture.

Local data: NIRA MLS FastStats, August 2026. National data: National Association of REALTORS®, August 2026 — 4.9 months of supply is the highest national reading in over a decade.

Months of supply, August 2026. Three months is the standard balanced-market benchmark. Orange marks the national figure for contrast; the three colored bars are our counties.

There is the number that actually matters if you own property here. The national market is carrying its highest inventory in over a decade. Our three counties are carrying roughly half that — 2.3 to 2.9 months of supply against 4.9 nationally. Median prices in all three counties were up year-to-date in August: Lake County $280,000, Porter County $359,700, LaPorte County $262,500.

That is the whole contrast. National distress is rising into a market already carrying a decade-high supply of homes for sale. Local distress is rising into a market that is still thin. A seller in trouble here is not competing against a flood of inventory the way a seller in Texas or Florida is.

The one local pipeline worth watching right now is not a bank list — it is the courthouse. Porter County’s 2026 tax sale runs online October 21 and 22, and the current list carries 398 parcels. That date is two weeks out. Tax sales are the earliest visible stage of local distress, months before anything reaches a bank’s REO column.

What This Means for Buyers and Sellers Here

The Short Version

The national foreclosure surge is real and it is smaller than it sounds. Banks repossessed 42% more homes in August 2026 than in August 2025, but that is 5,794 properties — about half the monthly average of 2019 and roughly 7% of the 2010 peak, in a report that says outright that activity remains below pre-pandemic norms. The state the headline points at leads on volume, not severity. And Indiana, which was the worst foreclosure state in the country in February, ranked sixth in August while our three counties carried less than half the national housing supply.

Read the records, not the headline on the national foreclosure surge. That is the whole job.

This new data, surfaced by Reventure App from Fannie Mae’s National Mortgage Database, shows back-end Debt-to-Income ratios at approximately 40% for new originations — the highest level on record, eclipsing the 38.7% peak of the 2007 housing bubble. This single number tells the story of the entire 2025 housing market: buyers are stretched, sellers are negotiating from weakness, and the affordability math that worked in 2019 no longer applies.

For Northwest Indiana specifically, the new debt-to-income peak matters because local buyers face the same headwinds as the rest of the country, but with regional quirks. Property taxes in Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties vary dramatically by municipality. Insurance costs along the lakefront have risen faster than inland. And the 6%+ rate environment means sellers can no longer rely on rate buydowns as a magic bullet — buyers qualify at the new ceiling, but few are comfortable living there.

Three Time Points: How Today Compares

The chart tells the story clearly. After the housing crash, DTI ratios fell sharply and stayed relatively contained through the 2010s. But beginning around 2020, the line turned sharply upward — and it hasn’t stopped climbing.

Why the Mortgage DTI Record Matters Now

Why This Mortgage DTI Record Matters

A Debt-to-Income ratio measures how much of a borrower’s monthly income goes toward housing debt. The back-end ratio includes all debt obligations — mortgage, taxes, insurance, car loans, student loans, credit cards. When lenders approve borrowers at 40%+ DTI, it means nearly half of that household’s monthly income is spoken for before groceries, utilities, or savings. For broader context on housing affordability trends, see Realtor.com’s housing market research.

Today’s debt-to-income peak didn’t happen in a vacuum. Three structural forces pushed it there:

• Home prices stayed elevated after the 2022 rate spike. When mortgage rates jumped from 3% to 7% in 18 months, would-be sellers locked in place rather than trade a sub-4% rate for a 7% one. That froze inventory and kept prices sticky, forcing buyers to finance larger and larger sums.
• Wage growth didn’t keep pace with the principal-and-interest jump. A $300k loan at 3% is $1,265/month. The same loan at 7% is $1,996/month — a 58% increase. Average hourly earnings grew roughly 4% annually over the same period, nowhere near enough to offset the rate-driven payment shock.
• Student loan repayments resumed in fall 2023, adding $200-$500/month to many borrowers’ back-end debt loads right as home prices were peaking. For first-time buyers under 35, this was often the final straw that pushed their back-end debt loads into new highs.

Today’s debt-to-income peak is also a forward-looking signal. Lenders aren’t loosening standards out of optimism — they’re loosening because competition for the shrinking pool of qualified buyers has gotten fierce. Fannie Mae’s own research arm has flagged the trend, and the FHFA has signaled increased scrutiny. If the 40% back-end DTI becomes the new normal rather than a temporary peak, expect tighter lending standards to follow within 12-18 months.

Key numbers at a glance:

• 2025 DTI (record high): ~40%
• 2007 housing bubble peak: 38.7%
• 1997 baseline: ~31%
• Source: Fannie Mae National Mortgage Database (NMDB)

The skyrocketing DTI over the last several years is leaving more Americans house poor. And it’s starting to show — foreclosure activity is beginning to tick up nationally.

Why now? Because the existing homeowner population is gradually turning over to today’s 6%+ mortgage rate environment. Borrowers who locked in 3% rates in 2020-2021 are still fine. But new buyers entering the market at higher rates AND higher home prices are carrying a heavier debt load than any cohort in modern history.

What the 2025 Mortgage DTI Record Means for NW Indiana Buyers & Sellers

As Nick Gerli of Reventure App put it: “Watch this DTI metric going forward. As more of the existing homeowner population turns over to 6% rates, we could eventually see more mortgage distress in the market.”

The bottom line? The 2025 housing market is different from 2007 in many ways — tighter lending standards post-crash, more equity in existing homes, less speculative building. But the new highs in debt-to-income ratios are a warning flag that household balance sheets are stretched thin. For NW Indiana buyers and sellers, that means being realistic about what you can afford and how you price your home.

How Local Lenders in NW Indiana Are Responding

Local mortgage brokers across Northwest Indiana are seeing the back-end DTI stress show up in three concrete ways:

• Higher debt-to-income overlays. Many lenders in Porter and Lake counties are now applying a 0.25% to 0.50% rate premium (or rate buy-up) for buyers whose back-end ratios exceed 43%. The mortgage insurance companies have followed with their own overlays on conventional loans above 45% back-end.
• Longer pre-approval validities. Because rate volatility has become the norm, most lenders now lock pre-approvals for 60-90 days instead of the standard 30. This protects the buyer from re-qualifying mid-search if rates drift.
• Rising use of buydowns. Seller-paid 2-1 and 3-2-1 temporary buydowns are now standard on listings in the $300k-$500k range across Hobart, Valparaiso, and Portage. Sellers absorb the cost because the alternative is watching qualified buyers walk away when their payment shock calc exceeds $400/month.

For first-time buyers in particular, the back-end debt stress is now the binding constraint, not the down payment. FHA loans with the new 40-year term option, conventional 97% LTV programs, and local down-payment assistance through the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority are all worth exploring. A local lender who actually understands NW Indiana property tax variability can save a buyer several hundred dollars a year over a national call-center lender.

Lennar, the largest U.S. homebuilder, just reported its average selling price dropped to $371,000 in Q2 2026 — the first quarter below the pre-pandemic $389,000 baseline since 2021. That’s a 25% drop off the $491,000 peak reached in mid-2023, and it confirms what local buyers and sellers across NW Indiana have been feeling in real time: the housing market is correcting, not crashing.

This post walks through the data straight from Lennar’s June 12, 2026 Form 8-K filing with the SEC. No spin, no forecasts — just what the numbers say and what they mean for anyone buying or selling a home in Porter County, Lake County, or the broader NW Indiana region right now.

Q2 2026 Key Metrics

Lennar Price Trajectory: 4 Quarters of Decline

Here’s the exact price sequence from the SEC filing. The numbers tell the story without needing interpretation:

Pre-pandemic baseline = Q2 2019 ASP of $389,000. Q2 2026 is the first quarter below this level since 2021, sitting $18,000 (4.6%) under baseline and $120,000 (24.4%) off the peak.

Structural Pressure: Margins & Incentives

The price drop isn’t happening in a vacuum. Lennar is also seeing margins compress and incentive spending balloon — two signals that builders are working harder to move the same product.

Sales incentives hit 12.9% of ASP in Q2 2026, up from 9.8% in Q4 2025. The “normal” historical range is 4-6%. That means roughly $48 out of every $371,000 sale price is now coming back to the buyer as rate buy-downs, closing cost credits, or upgrades — not equity for the builder.

Gross margins fell to 15.6% from 17.8% a year ago (−2.2 percentage points). The company is still profitable — this isn’t a distressed sale situation — but the cushion is thinning. Lennar’s own Q3 2026 guidance projects ASP between $375,000 and $380,000, suggesting prices may fall a bit further before stabilizing.

Lennar Operational Snapshot

Lennar vs. NW Indiana Median Price

Lennar is a national builder; the $371k ASP is below the NW Indiana median for the same period. For local context, see our Porter County Real Estate Market May 2026 and Lake County Real Estate Market May 2026 reports.

Why Lennar Matters to NW Indiana

Lennar delivers 80,000+ homes per year across 30 states, including active subdivisions in NW Indiana. Two structural facts make their pricing a leading indicator:

• New-home pricing leads existing-home pricing by 6-12 months. When builders cut prices, existing-home sellers eventually follow — or their homes sit.
• Lennar sets the comp. Local appraisers use new-construction sales as the ceiling for resale valuations in many subdivisions. Lower builder comps pull down assessed values.

In Lennar’s own words from the SEC filing: the price correction reflects “continued weakness in the market” and “the mismatch between higher home prices with higher interest rates and household income.” Translation: homes became too expensive for what buyers can afford at current rates.

What This Means for NW Indiana Buyers & Sellers

Official Source: Lennar Q2 2026 SEC Filing

Source: Lennar Corporation Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 12, 2026. Financial metrics reflect Q2 2026 (quarter ended May 31, 2026). Q3 2026 ASP guidance is company-disclosed forward-looking statement.

The Porter County real estate market in May 2026 is showing balanced activity. New listings moved +10.2%, inventory sits at 371 homes, and the median sale price is $335,500 (+4.9% YoY). With 2.2 months of supply, Porter County remains a seller’s market. Here’s the full picture.

📊 May 2026 Key Metrics

📈 Porter County Market Analysis

Porter County is part of the Northwest Indiana real estate landscape. At a $335,500 median sale price, the market gives buyers and sellers a clear data-driven picture. The 9 metrics below tell the full story.

The headline this month is inventory: total homes for sale climbed +5.7% to 371 (from 351 a year ago). New listings moved +10.2% (now 302). Porter County remains a seller’s market at 2.2 months of supply (3.0 is the standard balanced-market benchmark).

Demand is strong: closed sales rose +11.2% to 198, and pending sales rose +10.4% to 212. Days on market decreased from 48 to 39 — homes are moving faster than a year ago.

Prices moved up: the median climbed +4.9% to $335,500, while the average moved +2.3% to $378,931. Sellers received 96.5% of list price, up from 95.3%.

📊 Price Comparison: Porter County vs. NW Indiana Towns

Median sale prices for May 2026.

🏠 What This Means for Buyers & Sellers

📋 Official MLS Data: Porter County — May 2026

The following data comes directly from the NIRA MLS FastStats report for Porter County, comparing May 2025 vs. May 2026.

Key takeaways: The Porter County real estate market in May 2026 shows a +4.9% median price move to $335,500 with +5.7% inventory change to 371 homes and 2.2 months of supply. At a $335,500 median, Porter County remains a strong seller’s market in NW Indiana.

The LaPorte County real estate market is expanding in May 2026. New listings climbed +13.8% and total inventory rose +12.0% to 234 homes, giving buyers more choices than they’ve had in months. Prices moved +18.9% to a $267,500 median, and the market remains a seller’s market at 2.7 months of supply. Here’s the full picture.

📊 May 2026 Key Metrics

📈 LaPorte County Market Analysis

LaPorte County is part of the Northwest Indiana real estate landscape. At a $267,500 median sale price, the market gives buyers and sellers a clear data-driven picture. The 9 metrics below tell the full story.

The headline this month is inventory: total homes for sale climbed +12.0% to 234 (from 209 a year ago). New listings moved +13.8% (now 148). LaPorte County remains a seller’s market at 2.7 months of supply (3.0 is the standard balanced-market benchmark).

Demand is strong: closed sales rose +19.5% to 104, and pending sales rose +1.0% to 100. Days on market increased from 37 to 39 — homes are taking longer than a year ago.

Prices moved up: the median climbed +18.9% to $267,500, while the average moved +39.7% to $350,352. Sellers received 95.4% of list price, down from 95.7%.

📊 Price Comparison: LaPorte County vs. NW Indiana Towns

Median sale prices for May 2026.

🏠 What This Means for Buyers & Sellers

📋 Official MLS Data: LaPorte County — May 2026

The following data comes directly from the NIRA MLS FastStats report for LaPorte County, comparing May 2025 vs. May 2026.

Key takeaways: The LaPorte County real estate market in May 2026 shows a +18.9% median price move to $267,500 with +12.0% inventory change to 234 homes and 2.7 months of supply. At a $267,500 median, LaPorte County remains a strong seller’s market in NW Indiana.

The Valparaiso real estate market in May 2026 is showing balanced activity. New listings moved -9.5%, inventory sits at 79 homes, and the median sale price is $363,250 (+9.7% YoY). With 2.5 months of supply, Valparaiso remains a seller’s market. Here’s the full picture.

📊 May 2026 Key Metrics

📈 Valparaiso Market Analysis

Valparaiso is part of the Northwest Indiana real estate landscape. At a $363,250 median sale price, the market gives buyers and sellers a clear data-driven picture. The 9 metrics below tell the full story.

The headline this month is inventory: total homes for sale climbed +11.3% to 79 (from 71 a year ago). New listings moved -9.5% (now 57). Valparaiso remains a seller’s market at 2.5 months of supply (3.0 is the standard balanced-market benchmark).

Demand is soft: closed sales fell -7.7% to 36, and pending sales fell -12.5% to 42. Days on market increased from 36 to 37 — homes are taking longer than a year ago.

Prices moved up: the median climbed +9.7% to $363,250, while the average moved +15.3% to $399,656. Sellers received 98.3% of list price, up from 96.1%.

Valparaiso vs. Porter County

For the full Porter County breakdown, see our Porter County Real Estate Market Update – May 2026.

📊 Price Comparison: Valparaiso vs. NW Indiana Towns

Median sale prices for May 2026.

🏠 What This Means for Buyers & Sellers

📋 Official MLS Data: Valparaiso — May 2026

The following data comes directly from the NIRA MLS FastStats report for Valparaiso, comparing May 2025 vs. May 2026.

Key takeaways: The Valparaiso real estate market in May 2026 shows a +9.7% median price move to $363,250 with +11.3% inventory change to 79 homes and 2.5 months of supply. At a $363,250 median, Valparaiso remains a strong seller’s market in NW Indiana.

The Portage real estate market is expanding in May 2026. New listings climbed +63.6% and total inventory rose +34.1% to 55 homes, giving buyers more choices than they’ve had in months. Prices moved +8.1% to a $293,000 median, and the market remains a seller’s market at 1.7 months of supply. Here’s the full picture.

📊 May 2026 Key Metrics

📈 Portage Market Analysis

Portage is part of the Northwest Indiana real estate landscape. At a $293,000 median sale price, the market gives buyers and sellers a clear data-driven picture. The 9 metrics below tell the full story.

The headline this month is inventory: total homes for sale climbed +34.1% to 55 (from 41 a year ago). New listings moved +63.6% (now 54). Portage remains a seller’s market at 1.7 months of supply (3.0 is the standard balanced-market benchmark).

Demand is soft: closed sales fell -10.2% to 44, and pending sales rose +42.9% to 40. Days on market decreased from 64 to 35 — homes are moving faster than a year ago.

Prices moved up: the median climbed +8.1% to $293,000, while the average moved +2.1% to $302,520. Sellers received 98.9% of list price, up from 95.5%.

Portage vs. Porter County

For the full Porter County breakdown, see our Porter County Real Estate Market Update – May 2026.

📊 Price Comparison: Portage vs. NW Indiana Towns

Median sale prices for May 2026.

🏠 What This Means for Buyers & Sellers

📋 Official MLS Data: Portage — May 2026

The following data comes directly from the NIRA MLS FastStats report for Portage, comparing May 2025 vs. May 2026.

Key takeaways: The Portage real estate market in May 2026 shows a +8.1% median price move to $293,000 with +34.1% inventory change to 55 homes and 1.7 months of supply. At a $293,000 median, Portage remains a strong seller’s market in NW Indiana.

The Hobart real estate market is expanding in May 2026. New listings climbed +11.1% and total inventory rose +33.3% to 56 homes, giving buyers more choices than they’ve had in months. Prices moved +12.5% to a $260,000 median, and the market remains a seller’s market at 1.9 months of supply. Here’s the full picture.

📊 May 2026 Key Metrics

📈 Hobart Market Analysis

Hobart is part of the Northwest Indiana real estate landscape. At a $260,000 median sale price, the market gives buyers and sellers a clear data-driven picture. The 9 metrics below tell the full story.

The headline this month is inventory: total homes for sale climbed +33.3% to 56 (from 42 a year ago). New listings moved +11.1% (now 40). Hobart remains a seller’s market at 1.9 months of supply (3.0 is the standard balanced-market benchmark).

Demand is soft: closed sales fell -15.2% to 39, and pending sales rose +6.9% to 31. Days on market increased from 29 to 43 — homes are taking longer than a year ago.

Prices moved up: the median climbed +12.5% to $260,000, while the average moved +10.7% to $269,028. Sellers received 99.0% of list price, up from 97.6%.

Hobart vs. Lake County

For the full Lake County breakdown, see our Lake County Real Estate Market Update – May 2026.

📊 Price Comparison: Hobart vs. NW Indiana Towns

Median sale prices for May 2026.

🏠 What This Means for Buyers & Sellers

📋 Official MLS Data: Hobart — May 2026

The following data comes directly from the NIRA MLS FastStats report for Hobart, comparing May 2025 vs. May 2026.

Key takeaways: The Hobart real estate market in May 2026 shows a +12.5% median price move to $260,000 with +33.3% inventory change to 56 homes and 1.9 months of supply. At a $260,000 median, Hobart remains a strong seller’s market in NW Indiana.

The Chesterton real estate market is tightening in May 2026. New listings dropped -16.7% and total inventory held at 29 homes. Demand stayed strong with closed sales +14.3%, pushing the median price -5.9% to $324,000. The Chesterton market remains a seller’s market at 2.0 months of supply. Here’s the full picture.

📊 May 2026 Key Metrics

📈 Chesterton Market Analysis

Chesterton is part of the Northwest Indiana real estate landscape. At a $324,000 median sale price, the market gives buyers and sellers a clear data-driven picture. The 9 metrics below tell the full story.

The headline this month is inventory: total homes for sale fell -9.4% to 29 (from 32 a year ago). New listings moved -16.7% (now 25). Chesterton remains a seller’s market at 2.0 months of supply (3.0 is the standard balanced-market benchmark).

Demand is strong: closed sales rose +14.3% to 16, and pending sales fell -10.0% to 18. Days on market decreased from 72 to 53 — homes are moving faster than a year ago.

Prices cooled: the median fell -5.9% to $324,000, while the average moved +10.2% to $421,306. Sellers received 95.3% of list price, up from 93.1%.

Chesterton vs. Porter County

For the full Porter County breakdown, see our Porter County Real Estate Market Update – May 2026.

📊 Price Comparison: Chesterton vs. NW Indiana Towns

Median sale prices for May 2026.

🏠 What This Means for Buyers & Sellers

📋 Official MLS Data: Chesterton — May 2026

The following data comes directly from the NIRA MLS FastStats report for Chesterton, comparing May 2025 vs. May 2026.

Key takeaways: The Chesterton real estate market in May 2026 shows a -5.9% median price move to $324,000 with -9.4% inventory change to 29 homes and 2.0 months of supply. At a $324,000 median, Chesterton remains a strong seller’s market in NW Indiana.