Inside Indiana's Housing: High Demand, High Rates, and the Push for New Builds

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Today Indiana state leaders met at Morris Park Country Club to hear from Dr. Robert Dietz, Chief Economist, National Association of Home Builders about home affordability, mortgage rates and outlook for families.

Today’s seminar broke down if homes will become more affordable for families in the city, where mortgage rates are heading, if there are enough homes being built to meet demand, and where the Midwest ranks in comparison to the rest of the country.

In June 2026, the Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com ranked the South Bend - Mishawaka area the number one housing market in the country for spring 2026.

National experts say higher mortgage rates aren't making it any easier.

“Right now, the market faces challenges on the demand side and the supply side of the market.” said Chief Economist at the National Association of Home Builders, Robert Dietz. “Mortgage interest rates, of course, are back above 7% so that's a challenging situation for buyers”.

But experts insist that Indiana’s housing is better than its neighbors.

“Indiana's fortunate because with our economy very strong across the state of Indiana,” said Chief Executive Officer for the Indiana Builders Association Rick Wajda, “a lot of job growth, a lot of folks moving into the state of Indiana, unlike our neighbors in surrounding states, we feel very strongly that Indiana is in a good position moving forward”.

South Bend city leaders say keeping prices down here has one simple fix, building faster.

“We're lucky, at least compared to national levels, to be very affordable, and that's why our local marketplace is outperforming marketplaces across the country:” said Mayor of South Bend, James Mueller, “In South Bend, we have an all the above housing approach. We need to build every type of housing unit as many as we can, as fast as we can, and that's what's going to keep home prices affordable for folks to live in, and make sure our economy continues to grow.”

And one thing homebuyers might not have known is,

“The typical newly built home is actually cheaper today nationwide than the typical resale home.” said Dietz, “Now there's some apples and oranges factors to that. It had something to do with the location, but price discounting is taking place. So that frustrated first-time buyer needs to look sort of beyond where they would typically search for a home”.

Experts say to expand your search, including moving farther outside of your initial bubble, and even checking out those new builds. But most importantly they say to start saving early.