Schererville, Munster, Valpo among the highest median home values in Indiana (Indianapolis: real estate, houses)

[Bluefox]

Sorry, meant to change title to "based on selling prices."

For default home CNN looked at: a 2,200-square-foot house with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a family room and a two-car garage. NWI may not compare to the big shots elsewhere in the country, but NWI still blows away the rest of the state according to CNNMoney.com (though I do wonder if they forgot about Hamilton County?)

Either way, is it the Chicago factor?

CNN/Money: The hottest zip codes

[Bluefox]

*CAVEAT

*** These data only compare to Ft. Wayne, Evansville, Indy, and South Bend. Other communities were not taken into account when determining the median home value for default property ***

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by Bluefoxwarrior

Sorry, meant to change title to "based on selling prices."

For default home CNN looked at: a 2,200-square-foot house with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a family room and a two-car garage. NWI may not compare to the big shots elsewhere in the country, but NWI still blows away the rest of the state according to CNNMoney.com (though I do wonder if they forgot about Hamilton County?)

Either way, is it the Chicago factor?

CNN/Money: The hottest zip codes

I believe it is the Chicago factor. Even though NWI as a whole is still more affordable to live in than in comparable Illinois towns, many towns such as Munster and Schererville have people willing to pay top-dollar to move here instead of places like Orland Park, Tinley Park, and Naperville. This drove up prices a lot (and still do) which my family is not complaining about at all. Even as a now mature community, a huge chunk of the population (according to city-data) was born out-of-state. I can only imagine that the majority of those were born in Illinois. I think the same thing can be said for Schererville, and Saint John as well.

I should state that if I do see one issue with this though. Many of my friends (who are older, college educated, and pretty decent jobs) are priced out of Munster and in some cases, even Schererville, for the type of house they want. In many cases, some cannot even afford to move into the houses they grew up in unless their parents cut them a huge deal.

[svillechris]

Although towns like Fishers, Zionsville, and Carmel are very nice with great school systems, the standard of living is still higher in the better towns of NWI, such as the ones mentioned in this article. Go to a realtor website and search for a $250,000 home. In places like Carmel, this will get you a big beautiful home. In Schererville, this gets you a solid middle class home, nothing spectacular though. In Munster, this gets you an outdated quadlevel. There's no doubt the best NWI towns have higher real estate values than comparable Hamilton County towns. And yes, it is the Chicago factor without a doubt.

[grmasterb]

Originally Posted by svillechris

Although towns like Fishers, Zionsville, and Carmel are very nice with great school systems, the standard of living is still higher in the better towns of NWI, such as the ones mentioned in this article. Go to a realtor website and search for a $250,000 home. In places like Carmel, this will get you a big beautiful home. In Schererville, this gets you a solid middle class home, nothing spectacular though. In Munster, this gets you an outdated quadlevel. There's no doubt the best NWI towns have higher real estate values than comparable Hamilton County towns. And yes, it is the Chicago factor without a doubt.

Hold it, now. No doubt the "Chicago factor" drives prices higher in those NWI communities, but how exactly does that equate to a higher standard of living?

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

Hold it, now. No doubt the "Chicago factor" drives prices higher in those NWI communities, but how exactly does that equate to a higher standard of living?

I think he meant to say higher COST of living.

[svillechris]

Originally Posted by grmasterb

Hold it, now. No doubt the "Chicago factor" drives prices higher in those NWI communities, but how exactly does that equate to a higher standard of living?

Yes of course, I meant to say higher cost of living, which is basically just the cost of maintaining a certain type of living standard. On average, companies in Chicago pay 9% higher than companies in Indianapolis (per salary.com).

From the most recent city-data information, here is the cost of living in each of the aforementioned towns:

Munster - 102.6
Schererville - 101.4
Carmel - 83.5
Fishers - 80.4
Zionsville - 84.5

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by svillechris

Although towns like Fishers, Zionsville, and Carmel are very nice with great school systems, the standard of living is still higher in the better towns of NWI, such as the ones mentioned in this article. Go to a realtor website and search for a $250,000 home. In places like Carmel, this will get you a big beautiful home. In Schererville, this gets you a solid middle class home, nothing spectacular though. In Munster, this gets you an outdated quadlevel. There's no doubt the best NWI towns have higher real estate values than comparable Hamilton County towns. And yes, it is the Chicago factor without a doubt.

That's interesting. I guess I had presumed that real estate in Hamilton Co. would be higher or at the very least comparable to these NWI cities due to the vast amount of wealth in that county. I wonder if it's because growth in Hamilton Co. due to the "Indianapolis Factor" has been more recent and there is still a lot of land that is undeveloped?