Indiana REALTORS Release Mid-Year Housing Update

Closed sales are up in 2026

Shutterstock photo.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indiana Association of REALTORS® (IAR) has released statewide real estate market data for the first six months of 2026, showing solid gains in home sales and new listings along with rising property values compared to 2025.

For the first half of 2026, closed sales (38,971) are 2.5 percent ahead of 2025 while new pending sales (44,676) are three percent higher. 

Home sellers have been more enthusiastic than buyers with 54,106 new listings hitting the market through June, up five percent from last year. 

In terms of overall inventory, 15,402 homes have been made available for sale on an average day in 2026, 13 percent above 2025. With more options, buyers have taken more time: It’s taken 20 days for homes to go under contract this year, three days longer than the first half of 2025.

Improved mortgage rates ease the impact of rising prices:

Looking at year-to-date trends, interest rates and affordability challenges remain top of mind. The 30-year mortgage rate has averaged 6.25 percent on a weekly basis in 2026 (via the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey), more than 50 basis points below 2025.

“Even though our median sale price is up five percent over the first half of 2025, the monthly payment on a typical home is only up one percent,” said Aaron Luttrull, 2026 IAR Chair and the President and Managing Broker of Schuler Bauer Real Estate Services (New Albany). “Lower rates are helping buying power keep up with price growth.”

Home sales from $250,000-$750,000 are a bigger share of this year’s market:

While the number of home sales under $250,000 fell compared to the first six months of 2025, sales above $250,000 gained market share. In particular, closed sales between $250,000 and $750,000 grew three times faster than sales above $750,000 (which make up less than four percent of statewide transactions).

“These numbers suggest most of this year’s buyers have already been homeowners and are rolling the sale of their last home into the budget for their next move,” Luttrull said. “Too many prospective first-time buyers are still feeling priced out of ownership, even with Indiana’s affordability advantage compared to most other states.”

Only one of every five renter households statewide earns enough to comfortably purchase a home at or above $250,000 with a 10 percent down payment at 2026 interest rates, he added.

The market is more balanced – but inventory is still tight by pre-2020 standards:

Homebuyers are benefiting from more options, a less frenetic sales pace, and year-to-date price appreciation below the five-year state average. Sellers are accepting about 96 percent of their original list price, consistent with 2025, and a slightly higher share of homes on the market have reduced prices since listing (35 percent versus 33 percent last year).

On the other hand, sellers are still capitalizing on rising prices and building equity year after year. Recent IAR analysis shows that current owners who purchased their homes eleven years ago in 2015 have now seen values double at median annual appreciation rates.

“The good news is that Indiana is growing and homes are gaining value,” said IAR CEO Mark Fisher. “But even though housing inventory has been rising since 2022, it’s still stuck below 2019 levels – and we’ve added 180,000 new homeowner households since then. “The bottom line is that we have a more balanced market because rates have kept demand in line with supply…we still have a long-term housing shortage,” Fisher finished.

Southeastern Indiana (Indiana’s share of the Cincinnati metro) saw a notable 10 percent year-over-year jump in home sales (to 271); several metros had strong four percent growth in closed sales over 2025.