If you list a home in Steuben County at $400,000, what should you expect it to close for? The county's own numbers suggest well under $400,000, and by more than in the counties around it.
In September 2026, homes in Steuben County sold for an average of 93.0% of their listing price, according to the Indiana Association of REALTORS Existing Homes Report for Steuben County. The same month, the figure was 96.0% in neighboring DeKalb County and 95.2% across Indiana as a whole. On a $400,000 asking price, three percentage points is about $12,000.
September was not an unusual month. IAR's expected range for Steuben is 92.7% to 94.5%, and the ratio was flat compared with a year earlier. Around Angola and the lakes, closing below asking is simply how the market works. For a buyer comparing Steuben with DeKalb or Allen County, that gap is worth more attention than the headline median.
The gap between asking and closing
Here are the three September 2026 figures side by side:
| Area | Sale price as % of list, September 2026 | IAR expected range |
|---|---|---|
| Steuben County | 93.0% | 92.7% to 94.5% |
| DeKalb County | 96.0% | 95.5% to 97.4% |
| Indiana statewide | 95.2% | 93.8% to 95.7% |
The real gap is probably wider than 93.0% suggests. IAR's notes say the ratio does not subtract concessions, including seller-paid closing costs and buyer agent compensation. If a seller also covered part of the buyer's costs, the 93.0% overstates what that seller actually kept.
For a seller, this changes how to read a listing price. An asking price set by looking at nearby asking prices starts from a number the market has regularly discounted. For a buyer, an offer below asking in Steuben County is in line with how the county's sales usually close.
Why the median rose anyway
The headline numbers seem to say the opposite. Steuben County's median sale price in September 2026 was $304,950, up 13% from August and 8% from September 2025. That is slightly above the top of IAR's expected range of $273,772 to $302,590.
A median measures the middle sale, not every sale. It moves when the mix of homes that closed changes, even if no individual home gained value. September also had only 50 closed sales, down 12% from August and 7% from a year earlier. With that few sales, a handful of higher-priced closings can move the median a long way. Most of September's closings also came from contracts signed in the summer.
The contracts signed in September tell a different story:
- New listings: 69, up 25% from August and 35% from September 2025, above IAR's expected range of 52 to 57.
- New pending contracts: 29, down 47% from August and 42% from a year earlier, below the expected range of 40 to 44.
- Average daily active inventory: 156 homes, about the same as August and down 3% from a year earlier.
IAR says new pending contracts are "a very strong predictor of sales trends five weeks in the future." In September, more than twice as many homes came on the market as went under contract. That points to a slower late October and November for closings, while listings were still arriving faster than usual.
The county is not oversupplied overall. Months of inventory was 3.7 in September 2026, down 12% from a year earlier and below IAR's expected range of 3.9 to 4.3. The more useful question is which price range the extra listings are in.
Where the extra listings are
IAR's Housing Affordability report for Steuben County splits the past 12 months of activity at $250,000. The two halves look different.
| Price band, rolling 12 months through October 2026 | New listings | Closed sales | Listings per sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $250,000 | 230 | 218 | about 1.06 |
| $250,000 and up | 414 | 299 | about 1.38 |
| All properties | 644 | 517 | about 1.25 |
Under $250,000, listings and sales came out nearly even. A new listing in that range had about as many buyers closing as there were sellers coming on the market. At $250,000 and up, 115 more homes were listed than sold over the year. Some of those were withdrawn, some expired, and some are still for sale this fall. In every case, the seller was competing with more listings at that price than the market was absorbing.
The year-over-year changes show the same pattern. Closed sales under $250,000 rose 11% while new listings rose 5%. Closed sales at $250,000 and up rose 6%, and new listings in that band were unchanged. The upper tier is catching up a little, but it still has more homes for sale than buyers.
IAR's bands are based on price, not location, so the data does not identify lake homes. In practice, though, many waterfront and lake-access homes around Angola are in the upper band, and the upper band is where the gap between listings and sales is largest.
The biggest lake project has no final approval yet
New construction would add to the same upper tier. The largest residential proposal on the lakes, Jimmerson Point on Lake James, has not reached a final county decision.
G6 LLC proposed the planned unit development at 3995 N. 300 W., the site of the former Bledsoe's Lake James Mobile Home Park. The plan includes 120 townhomes, 115 apartments, and about 12,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, according to the Steuben County Plan Commission minutes from April 1, 2026. WANE's April report put the project's dock count at 148. The Plan Commission voted 6–0 to send the Commissioners a favorable recommendation. The recommendation came with conditions covering soils, wetlands, drainage, traffic, utility capacity, open space, the dock system, and association rules. The conditions also require a DNR-approved dock plan and confirmation of sewer capacity from the Steuben Lakes Regional Waste District.
WANE reported in April that developer Andy Norton hoped to meet the conditions and win approval by mid-summer, and that the project would take about two years to build. The Steuben County Commissioners' posted minutes run through September 15, 2026, and do not record a vote on the PUD.
The early townhome price estimates put the project in the upper band. The Plan Commission minutes recorded a preliminary range of $450,000 to $700,000. WANE's April report gave $450,000 to $800,000. These were estimates made before any approval, not sale prices.
If the project is approved and built on the timeline described in April, it would add new lake-access townhomes in the price range that already has the most extra listings. Until then, an upper-tier buyer around Lake James is choosing among existing homes, and the 12-month numbers show more of those listed than sold.
What this means for an offer this fall
Taken together, the data points to a few practical conclusions for the Angola area through late 2026:
- Use closed sales, not asking prices, to set a list price. Closings have averaged 93.0% of asking in Steuben, so a list price based on nearby asking prices starts high.
- Expect more competition below $250,000. Listings and sales in that range were nearly even over the past year, so there is less room to negotiate there than the county average suggests.
- Above $250,000, look at how long a home has been listed. With 1.38 listings for every sale over 12 months, an upper-tier home that came on the market in summer and is still for sale may have a seller open to talking about price.
- Don't rely on the 12-day days-on-market figure. IAR reported a median of 12 days from listing to pending in September but cautions that pending dates are often entered late, so the most recent months are incomplete.
- Check the next monthly report. The September pending count of 29 suggests fewer closings five weeks out. October's numbers will show whether that held.
Questions buyers ask about the Angola-area market
Is Steuben County a buyer's market right now? Not across the board. Months of inventory was 3.7 in September 2026, below IAR's expected range and down 12% from a year earlier. The buyer's room shows up in the gap between asking and closing prices and in the $250,000-and-up band.
Does a higher median mean prices are rising fast? The September median of $304,950 was based on 50 closings, mostly from summer contracts. With that few sales, changes in which homes closed can move the median sharply from month to month.
When could Jimmerson Point homes be available? No firm date exists. The April timeline was a mid-summer approval followed by about two years of construction. The Commissioners' minutes posted through September 15 do not record a vote on the PUD.
If you're weighing a lake-area home and want to know how far below asking a particular property is likely to close, Tiffany Fries can go through the recent closed sales in that price range with you. Triad Real Estate Services can help you set a list price or an offer based on what Steuben County homes actually sell for. Schedule a Free Consultation.
