Michigan City-La Porte, IN

There is no doubt that the real estate market in the Michigan City-La Porte, IN metropolitan statistical area (MSA) has been on a roller coaster ride over the past few years. After reaching record highs in 2006 and 2007, prices plummeted during the Great Recession, bottoming out in 2011. Since then, prices have slowly but steadily risen, and according to Realtor.com, the median home price in the MSA was $144,000 in August 2017.

However, it's important to keep in mind that not all markets are created equal. While some areas of the MSA have seen healthy price appreciation since 2011, others have lagged behind. For example, La Porte County has generally outperformed Porter County since the housing market bottomed out. This is likely due to a number of factors, including La Porte's proximity to Lake Michigan (which is a major draw for summer visitors) and its lower tax rate relative to Porter County.

Looking ahead, it's difficult to say where prices will go from here. However, given the current state of the economy and historically low interest rates, it's reasonable to expect that prices will continue to rise modestly in most markets within the MSA over the next few years.