Michiana Housing Market Report — August 2026

Home values across Michiana rose 4–7% over the past year, led by Marshall County (+7.2%) and Berrien County (+7.1%). The typical St. Joseph County home now stands at $232,568; the typical South Bend home at $200,351, up 7.1% year over year — again the strongest annual gain among the region's five core cities. Data in this report runs through July 2026 for home values and rents, and covers May through July 2026 for closed sales.

A note on method: Redfin now publishes city-level sales data as rolling three-month windows rather than single months, so from this report on, sale prices, days on market, inventory and homes sold cover the three months ending with the data month. The wider window steadies the small-town numbers, but the figures are not directly comparable to the single-month values in earlier reports. Zillow also revises its history with each release, so the home values here supersede those printed previously.

The county picture

Marshall County posted the region's largest annual value gain at +7.2%, with Berrien close behind at +7.1%. Kosciusko County remains the most expensive of the seven at $292,420, and Berrien the most expensive on the Michigan side, pulled up by its Lake Michigan shoreline markets. LaPorte County grew slowest, at +4.1%.

Five towns, five stories

• South Bend — $195,000 median sale price (+8.3% YoY) across 443 sales, with homes going under contract in a median 15 days. The story is supply: inventory stood at 278 homes, up 22.5% from a year earlier, after running below year-ago levels through the spring.
• Mishawaka — a $225,000 median sale price, up 15.4% year over year on 179 sales. Sellers received 99.7% of asking price on average, and inventory (74 homes) was unchanged from a year ago — demand is still absorbing everything listed.
• Elkhart — the fastest of the core cities: a median 14 days on market, and homes sold slightly above list on average (100.3%). The median sale price reached $203,000 (+9.4%) even as inventory rose 13.4%.
• Granger — the premium market has steadied. The median sale price of $432,500 rose 5.6% on 160 sales, and inventory of 82 homes was up 9.3% — a far smaller jump than the spring's surge in listings. Median days on market: 18.
• Niles, MI — $191,000 median sale price (+4.7% YoY) on 47 sales, with homes selling at essentially full list price (100.0%) after a median 36 days. Inventory fell 18.8% to 26 homes — thin supply in a small market.

Rents

Typical asking rents rose fastest in Elkhart (+8.9% YoY, to $1,169/month), followed by Granger (+7.0%, $2,000) and Michigan City (+6.2%, $1,084). South Bend rents rose a milder 3.2% to $1,300. Michigan City and Goshen ($1,085) are the least expensive of the region's tracked rental markets.

Rates

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate stood at 6.66% in late August, having held between 6.65% and 6.69% all month — up from 6.43% at the start of July, and about a tenth of a point above the 6.56% of late August 2025. Rates have now climbed nearly seven-tenths of a point from February's 5.98% low.

What to watch next month

Whether South Bend's inventory build starts to cool its price gains; whether Elkhart keeps selling above list as its supply grows; and whether rising rates begin to show up in fall closings. Summer closed-sale data lands in the September report.

Sources: Zillow Research (ZHVI home values, ZORI rents), Redfin Data Center (sale prices, inventory, days on market — rolling three-month windows), FRED / Freddie Mac (mortgage rates). Full methodology on the About page.

Town-by-town data

Mortgage rates