Michiana Housing Market Report — March 2026
March snapped the rate reprieve: the 30-year fixed jumped back to 6.38%, erasing February's sub-6% window in a matter of weeks. The month's closed-sale medians — January closings, the year's thinnest — ran soft across the board even as underlying values kept setting highs: St. Joseph County reached $229,297 (+3.8% year over year), Berrien County $280,219 (+4.0%). Home-value data runs through February 2026; closed sales through January 2026.
The winter-closing dip
January's closing table is always Michiana's smallest sample, and it showed:
- South Bend — $160,000 median, down 7.2% year over year, with days on market stretching to 38. Inventory, though, fell another 22.9% — the scarcity story never paused.
- Mishawaka — the exception: $185,000 median, up 18.4%, on 40-day marketing times.
- Elkhart — $143,000 median (−15.1%), the market's cheapest print of the year; deep winter in a factory town.
- Granger — $367,875 (−6.3%) and 41 days — the premium tier feels rate moves first.
- Niles — $171,750 (−25.0%), the mirror image of February's +47%: five or six closings swinging a median. Zillow's smoothed value for Niles rose 3.7% — the truer line.
Reading it right
Nothing in March contradicted the year's underlying trend — values rising 4% a year on shrinking supply. It was a reminder of this report's standing rule: in small markets, trust year-over-year value measures over any single month's sale median.
What to watch
April's closings — the first spring evidence — and whether 6%+ rates cool the listing season before it starts.
Sources: Zillow Research (home values), Redfin Data Center (sales), FRED / Freddie Mac (rates). Methodology on the About page.
Archive edition: compiled retrospectively from current (revised) Zillow, Redfin, and FRED source data for this month.
Town-by-town data
| Town | Typical home value | YoY | 5-yr trend | Median sale price | Days on mkt | Inventory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Bend, IN | $197K | +4.3% | $160K | 38 | 202 | |
| Mishawaka, IN | $212K | +2.4% | $185K | 40 | 58 | |
| Elkhart, IN | $229K | +4.9% | $143K | 43 | 81 | |
| Granger, IN | $421K | +4.0% | $368K | 41 | 53 | |
| Niles, MI | $211K | +3.7% | $172K | 43 | 27 | |
| Goshen, IN | $281K | +4.7% | $200K | 53 | 24 | |
| Michigan City, IN | $193K | +2.9% | $170K | 63 | 95 | |
| La Porte, IN | $278K | +3.6% | $220K | 40 | 45 | |
| St. Joseph, MI | $339K | +3.2% | $259K | 69 | 30 | |
| Benton Harbor, MI | $156K | +1.2% | $65K | 96 | 33 | |
| New Buffalo, MI | $667K | +7.4% | $354K | 115 | 15 | |
| Three Oaks, MI | $339K | +8.8% | $362K | 49 | 16 | |
| Dowagiac, MI | $232K | +6.7% | $170K | 112 | 12 | |
| Edwardsburg, MI | $311K | +3.9% | $305K | 137 | 4 | |
| Osceola, IN | $292K | +3.1% | $218K | 61 | 4 | |
| Nappanee, IN | $299K | +5.7% | $190K | 85 | 6 | |
| Middlebury, IN | $385K | +6.8% | $250K | 11 | 8 | |
| Bremen, IN | $282K | +4.6% | $180K | 46 | 3 | |
| Plymouth, IN | $246K | +4.1% | $180K | 63 | 7 | |
| Warsaw, IN | $278K | +2.4% | $165K | 43 | 48 |