Indiana Tops 2026 National Housing Report Card for Affordability and Building

Indiana claimed the top spot in the 2026 Realtor.com Housing Report Card, released June 15, earning an overall score of 76.3 out of 100 and an A grade for its combination of housing affordability and new construction activity. The Hoosier State jumped three positions from last year, displacing South Carolina — the 2025 leader — which fell to third place.

No state earned a perfect A+, and the regional pattern was stark: twelve of the thirteen highest-ranked states were in the Midwest or South. Six coastal states received failing grades, with New York landing at the very bottom.

How Indiana Earned Its Grade — and What the Scoring Actually Measures

Realtor.com's methodology splits its 100-point scale evenly between two categories: housing affordability and homebuilding output. On affordability, evaluators look at the share of median household income required to carry a median-priced home, alongside the REALTORS® Affordability Score published by the National Association of Realtors.

In Indiana, the median home price sits at $295,810. A household earning the state median of $71,469 would spend roughly 28% of gross income to afford that home — just below the widely used 30% threshold that marks the line between manageable and stretched. The state's REALTORS® Affordability Score of 0.89 ranks among the nation's highest.

The homebuilding half of the score measures permit activity relative to population and the price gap between new construction and existing homes. Indiana performed solidly on both counts. Rick Wajda, CEO of the Indiana Builders Association, told Realtor.com that the state has worked to keep regulatory costs in check at the state and local level — a factor that directly influences how much it costs builders to break ground, and ultimately what buyers pay.

The Coastal Divide Is Getting Harder to Ignore

The failing grades handed to six coastal states — New York at the bottom — aren't a surprise to anyone watching inventory trends, but the 2026 report makes the gap quantifiable. The Midwest and South are producing homes at rates that coastal markets are not matching, and affordability ratios in those coastal states remain well above the 30% threshold even for median earners.

Delaware was the only East Coast state to crack the top ten, landing seventh. That geographic clustering tells a consistent story: where builders can afford to build and local governments aren't choking supply with regulatory friction, housing markets function more efficiently for everyone — buyers, renters, and sellers alike.

What Indiana's No. 1 Ranking Means If You're Planning to Sell

If you own a home in Indiana or another high-ranked Midwest or Southern state, this report is useful context — but not a reason to wait. Here's what sellers should actually take from it.

Your buyer pool is healthier than the national average. In a market where 28% of median income covers the median home, buyers aren't stretched to their limit before they even make an offer. That means more qualified purchasers, less financing fallout, and offers that are more likely to close. A stressed buyer pool — common in coastal markets — leads to more contingencies, more renegotiation, and higher deal failure rates.

New construction is competition, not just context. Indiana's strong homebuilding score means buyers have options beyond your listing. A low new-construction premium — the price gap between a new home and an existing one — is good for affordability broadly, but it tightens the case you need to make as a seller of an existing home. Condition, pricing accuracy, and timing matter more in markets where buyers can credibly choose new over used.

Affordability rankings attract migration. States that consistently score well on reports like this one draw attention from households relocating from higher-cost markets. That migration demand is an additional layer of buyer activity that sellers in top-ranked states benefit from — especially in metros with good job markets.

Coastal sellers face a different calculation. If you're in one of the six states that earned an F, the structural headwinds are real. Thin affordability means your buyer pool is narrower, and elevated new-construction premiums can signal that developers aren't building, which historically leads to slow but persistent price erosion over time. Sellers in those markets who are weighing a timeline should factor in that these conditions aren't self-correcting quickly.

Whether you're in Indiana or New York, understanding where your state sits on the affordability and supply spectrum gives you a clearer read on how aggressive you can be on price and how patient you need to be on offers. If you want a fast, data-grounded estimate of what your home is worth in today's market, Local Home Buyers USA's instant-offer tool is built for exactly that kind of decision.