Michiana Housing Market Report — July 2026

Home values across Michiana rose 4–7% over the past year, led by Berrien County (+6.7%) and St. Joseph County (+6.1%). The typical St. Joseph County home now stands at $234,943; the typical South Bend home at $202,069, up 6.9% year over year — the strongest annual gain among the region's five core cities. Data in this report runs through June 2026 for home values and rents, and May 2026 for closed sales.

The county picture

Marshall County posted the region's largest annual value gain at +7.0%, with the FHFA county house-price index confirming the move (+8.2% YoY). Berrien County remains the most expensive of the core counties, pulled up by its Lake Michigan shoreline markets.

Five towns, five stories

• South Bend — $190,000 median sale price (+5.6% YoY), homes going under contract in a median 22 days, and active inventory down 12.7% from a year ago. Tight supply is doing the work here: fewer homes for sale, steady demand.
• Mishawaka — the eye-catcher: a $245,000 median sale price, up 30.3% year over year. With only 63 homes sold in May and inventory down 13.6%, that jump reflects a thin, fast-moving market — sellers received 99.8% of asking price on average.
• Elkhart — homes sold in a median of just 16 days in May, the fastest among the core cities, at a $195,000 median price (+18.2% YoY). Inventory edged up 9.7%.
• Granger — the region's premium market is loosening. Median sale price of $410,000 rose a modest 2.6%, but active inventory jumped 63.8% year over year and median days on market rose to 21. Buyers in Granger have more choices than they've had in years.
• Niles, MI — $194,825 median sale price (+5.3% YoY) on very low volume (14 sales in May). Days on market rose to 44, and homes sold slightly above list on average (100.6%) — small-market numbers that swing month to month.

Rents

Typical asking rents rose fastest in Granger (+13.3% YoY, to $2,024/month) — the region's premium rental niche — followed by Elkhart (+6.1%, $1,174) and South Bend (+5.6%, $1,310). Goshen remains Michiana's most affordable core rental market at $1,029.

Rates

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 6.58% in late July, up from 6.43% earlier in the month — still in the narrow mid-6% band that has framed affordability across the region all year.

What to watch next month

Whether Granger's inventory surge starts showing up in its sale prices; whether Mishawaka's outsized price jump holds as summer closings post; and whether Elkhart's 16-day market pace survives higher inventory. June closed-sale data lands in the August report.

Sources: Zillow Research (ZHVI home values, ZORI rents), Redfin Data Center (sale prices, inventory, days on market), FRED / Freddie Mac (mortgage rates), FHFA (county HPI). Full methodology on the About page.

Town-by-town data

Mortgage rates