By Kris Bashenow, CLHMS | First Quarter 2026 | Marion, Hamilton & Boone Counties
The highest-priced luxury listing in Greater Indianapolis this quarter reached $10,948,500 in Fishers — a 21,010-square-foot estate that sits in a class entirely its own. Not one new construction home priced above $2.5 million went under contract during Q1 2026: eleven active listings, zero pending. The Q1 2026 RCPI scores range from 1.082 in the $1.5M–$2.5M tier to 1.154 in the entry-luxury tier, confirming that new construction carries a consistent replacement cost premium over comparable resale across every price point I track.
Eleven luxury new construction homes priced above $2.5 million are sitting active in Greater Indianapolis right now. Not one went under contract during the first quarter of 2026. Zero. Meanwhile, in the resale market at that same price tier, 5 out of 24 listings found buyers — an absorption rate of 20.8%. The builders pricing at $2.8 million, $3.2 million, $3.7 million, $4.3 million, and $4.6 million are watching resale move at a clip that makes their own inventory look stranded.
This is not a market-wide slowdown. Luxury resale overall posted a 50.7% absorption rate this quarter — meaning more homes are under contract than are actively available. That is a seller’s market. New construction overall sits at 36.0% — respectable, but trailing resale by nearly 15 percentage points. The divergence between new construction and resale isn’t new; what’s new in Q1 2026 is that the gap has cleaved completely open at the top tier. And there’s a second signal layered underneath: the active new construction listings coming to market are priced at a median of $370.67 per square foot, while the homes that actually closed this quarter came in at $254.92 per square foot — a 45.4% premium baked into what builders are asking versus what buyers are paying. That spread defines where the negotiation happens.
What Is the Replacement Cost Pressure Index (RCPI)?
The RCPI is a proprietary metric I developed to answer a single question that matters to every luxury buyer and seller in Greater Indianapolis: how much more does it cost to build new compared to buying finished? The formula is straightforward:
RCPI = Median New Construction Price per Living Sq Ft ÷ Median Resale Price per Living Sq Ft
A score above 1.0 means new construction costs more per square foot than resale — buyers pay a premium for new. A score of 1.15 means new construction runs 15% higher per square foot than comparable resale. I calculate this quarterly using active MIBOR BLC data across Marion, Hamilton, and Boone Counties, segmented into three price tiers, for all $1 million-plus residential listings. Full methodology is available at the Replacement Cost Pressure Index methodology page. This is the inaugural Q1 2026 report in what I intend as an ongoing quarterly series.
Q1 2026 RCPI Scores by Price Tier
| Price Tier | NC Median $/Sq Ft | Resale Median $/Sq Ft | RCPI Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1: $1M–$1.5M | $239.91 | $207.90 | 1.154 |
| Tier 2: $1.5M–$2.5M | $302.49 | $279.44 | 1.082 |
| Tier 3: $2.5M+ | $343.05 | $301.84 | 1.137 |
All three tiers show new construction trading above resale on a per-square-foot basis. The widest premium sits in the entry-luxury tier (1.154), where volume is highest and the data is most statistically robust. The $1.5M–$2.5M tier shows the tightest premium (1.082), which may partly reflect the fact that only four new construction Sold transactions occurred at that tier this quarter — a thin sample worth watching as Q2 data builds. The $2.5M+ tier at 1.137 is calculated from two sold transactions and should be treated as directional rather than definitive; the forward signal RCPI at that tier tells a louder story, which I address in the findings below.
Q1 2026 Market Segment Overview
| Market Segment | Highest Listing | Key Neighborhood | Living Sq Ft | County |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resale — All Tiers | $10,948,500 | M & B, Fishers | 21,010 | Hamilton |
| New Construction — $2.5M+ | $4,649,000 | Bradley Ridge, Zionsville | 8,226 | Boone |
| New Construction — $1.5M–$2.5M | $2,300,000 (Sold) | Holliday Farms, Zionsville | 6,888 | Boone |
| New Construction — $1M–$1.5M | $1,486,103 (Sold) | Chatham Hills, Westfield | 6,358 | Hamilton |
| Resale — $2.5M+ (Sold) | $3,195,000 | Queens Manor, Carmel | 11,670 | Hamilton |
| Resale — $1.5M–$2.5M (Sold) | $2,155,000 | Admirals Sound, Indianapolis | 5,237 | Marion |
| Resale — $1M–$1.5M (Sold) | $1,499,900 | Multiple / Hamilton Co. | 5,470 | Hamilton |
What Does $1.5M Actually Buy You Right Now — New Construction or Resale?
At the $1.4 million to $1.6 million price point, the square footage gap between new construction and resale is not subtle. The median living square footage for new construction in that band is 4,501 square feet. The median for resale is 6,021 square feet. That is a 1,520-square-foot difference — roughly equivalent to adding a full bedroom suite, a dedicated home office, and a second family room to the resale option, at the same price.
This gap exists because new construction at that price point is largely concentrated in communities like Chatham Hills and Westfield’s Midland subdivision, where builders are delivering tighter floor plans with premium finishes at a higher cost per square foot. Resale at $1.4M–$1.6M pulls from a much wider geography — established neighborhoods in Carmel, Zionsville, Fishers, and Indianapolis — where sellers are pricing square footage they built 10 to 20 years ago at a fraction of today’s replacement cost.
For a buyer who prioritizes space over newness, this is a 34% square footage premium for choosing resale at the same budget. For a buyer who values new construction — fresh mechanicals, modern floor plans, builder warranty — the 4,501-square-foot number still delivers a substantial home. The point is that these are not equivalent products, and buyers entering this tier need to make that trade-off consciously.
One Subdivision Is Quietly Controlling the Entire New Construction Market
Chatham Hills in Westfield represents 26.3% of all luxury new construction listings in Marion, Hamilton, and Boone Counties this quarter — 20 out of 76 total listings. That clears the 25% concentration flag I track in this report, and it’s worth understanding what that means for the broader market. When one community drives more than a quarter of all supply in a category, its pricing behavior, absorption rate, and builder activity become the de facto signal for the entire segment.
The price range within Chatham Hills this quarter runs from $1,031,116 (sold) to $4,550,000 (active), with the bulk of activity in the $1.2 million to $1.9 million range. The subdivision has both resale and new construction inventory — a dynamic that creates internal competition between finished product and builder spec homes on adjacent streets. Westfield as a city accounts for 50.0% of all luxury new construction in the tri-county area (38 of 76 listings), which means Chatham Hills alone is responsible for more than half of Westfield’s new construction volume. If that community slows, the broader NC market slows with it.
New Construction Is Asking 45% More Per Square Foot Than It’s Actually Closing For
The median active new construction listing in Greater Indianapolis is priced at $370.67 per living square foot. The median new construction home that actually closed this quarter sold at $254.92 per square foot. That is a 45.4% spread between what builders are asking and what buyers are paying. This is the single most important negotiation data point for anyone currently under contract — or about to go under contract — on new construction.
Some of this gap is a mix effect: the active listings include ultra-luxury inventory above $3.5 million with naturally high per-square-foot pricing, while the sold inventory is concentrated below $1.5 million where volume is highest. But the gap is real regardless of the explanation. Builders setting list prices at the top of the market are anchoring to replacement cost and profit margin, not to transaction history. Buyers who accept those anchors without interrogating the closed comps are leaving real money on the table.
The practical implication: when evaluating a new construction offer, price-per-living-square-foot is a more accurate comparator than list price alone. A 4,500-square-foot home asking $1.8 million ($400/sqft) is asking 57% above the Q1 2026 closed median for new construction. That context belongs in every buyer conversation.
Resale Is Selling Faster Than New Construction — By a Significant Margin
The luxury resale market posted a 50.7% absorption rate in Q1 2026 — calculated as pending sales divided by total active-plus-pending inventory. New construction came in at 36.0%. The 14.7-percentage-point gap means resale is closing contracts at a meaningfully faster pace, and the absolute numbers make this even clearer: resale has 77 pending listings against 75 active. That is more homes under contract than available, the textbook definition of a seller’s market. New construction has 18 pending against 32 active — demand that is real but not dominant.
For sellers of resale luxury homes, this data supports a confident luxury listing strategy — the buyer pool is active, and the competition from new construction is not pulling buyers away as fast as new inventory is arriving. For buyers, the resale absorption rate is a caution: waiting on a well-priced resale home in an established neighborhood carries real risk in this market. Resale is moving. New construction, especially above $2.5 million, is not.
Indianapolis Is Outperforming Carmel on Price Per Square Foot. Yes, Really.
Among all cities with at least three luxury resale sales this quarter, Indianapolis posted the highest median sold price per living square foot: $327.59. Carmel came in at $223.09. Westfield at $258.89. Zionsville at $205.19. Indianapolis is not just competitive with the traditional prestige suburban markets — it is leading them on this metric, and by a wider margin than most buyers and sellers expect.
The reason is straightforward once you look at what’s transacting in Indianapolis luxury. The sold inventory here includes properties in Meridian Hills, Meridian Kessler, Crows Nest, and Admirals Sound — neighborhoods where the homes are often smaller in footprint but command premium pricing due to location, lot scarcity, and architectural character that simply cannot be replicated. A 3,592-square-foot home in Meridian Kessler that sold at $1,250,000 ($348/sqft) is priced above the Indianapolis median and well above the Carmel median, reflecting what buyers will pay for irreplaceable urban luxury. Noblesville also cleared $315/sqft on 8 sales, which adds a second underappreciated market to watch.
For sellers in Washington Township, Meridian Hills, and the near-north Indianapolis corridors, this data validates premium pricing. For buyers, it reframes the geography — the assumption that suburban means better value per square foot does not hold in the Q1 2026 data.
Not a Single $2.5M+ New Construction Home Went Under Contract This Quarter
Of the eleven new construction homes priced above $2.5 million currently active in Greater Indianapolis, zero went under contract during Q1 2026. The list includes some of the most ambitious luxury new construction in the region: a $4,649,000 home in Zionsville’s Bradley Ridge, five listings in Chatham Hills ranging from $3,690,000 to $4,550,000, two in Waterfront At West Clay, and properties in Holliday Farms and Promontory. Eleven listings, collectively representing over $42 million in new construction inventory, recorded zero pending transactions for the entire quarter.
The forward signal RCPI at Tier 3 is 1.504, meaning active new construction above $2.5M is currently priced at a 50.4% replacement cost premium over resale asking prices in the same tier. Resale above $2.5M, by contrast, posted a 20.8% absorption rate — 5 homes under contract out of 24 total in the active-plus-pending pool. The buyer for a $3–4 million home in Greater Indianapolis is actively purchasing. They are simply not purchasing new construction at current price levels. This is a pricing problem, not a demand problem. The resale data confirms buyers exist in this tier; the transaction data confirms they are choosing finished product over builder inventory at a 50% replacement cost premium.
Submarket Breakdown: Q1 2026
Carmel generated 32 luxury resale closed sales this quarter — the highest volume of any city in the dataset — with a median sold price of $223.09 per square foot. Notable transactions include a $3,195,000 sale in Queens Manor (11,670 sqft) and a $3,150,000 sale in Jackson’s Grant (5,292 sqft at $595/sqft — the highest per-square-foot resale transaction in the entire dataset). New construction in Carmel is limited this quarter, with a Village of Westclay new build that closed at $3,200,000 (9,232 sqft).
Westfield is the undisputed center of luxury new construction in Q1 2026, with 38 of 76 NC listings — exactly half the market. Chatham Hills alone accounts for 26.3% of all tri-county NC supply. Resale closed 8 transactions at a median $258.89/sqft, including a $1,550,000 sale in Chatham Hills (5,301 sqft) and a $1,480,500 sale in Brookside (6,537 sqft).
Zionsville led the highest new construction asking prices outside Westfield, with Bradley Ridge asking $4,649,000 (8,226 sqft) and Waterfront At West Clay active above $3.7 million. Holliday Farms recorded 4 NC listings including a $2,300,000 closed sale (6,888 sqft) and 2 pending properties between $1.68M and $1.695M. PEMBERTON contributed 3 NC listings with 2 pending transactions.
Fishers carries a strong resale story this quarter. Springs of Cambridge has both NC and resale activity — a $1,525,000 closed resale sale (7,448 sqft, $204/sqft) illustrates how value-dense this community is relative to the broader market.
Washington Township / Meridian Hills produced two NC pending transactions — $1,677,000 in Meridian Hills (4,562 sqft) and $1,579,000 in Meridian Kessler (4,133 sqft) — confirming active builder activity inside Indianapolis city limits. Combined with the $327.59/sqft resale performance, this corridor warrants close attention heading into Q2.
Holliday Farms continues as a Zionsville anchor, with 4 NC listings spanning $1.062M to $3.6M. The $2,300,000 sold transaction (6,888 sqft, $334/sqft) is the highest-priced NC close in Zionsville this quarter and sits well above the overall NC Tier 2 median.
Village of Westclay recorded a notable NC close at $3,200,000 (9,232 sqft, $347/sqft) and multiple resale pending transactions in the $1.5M–$2.5M tier.
Jackson’s Grant delivered the quarter’s most striking resale data point: $3,150,000 for 5,292 square feet, translating to $595 per square foot — the highest per-square-foot resale close in the entire tri-county dataset. This reflects the scarcity premium of finished luxury in a fully built-out community with no remaining lots.
Chatham Hills resale activity is emerging alongside the NC dominance: a $1,895,000 pending (7,009 sqft) and a $1,000,000 sold (3,248 sqft) confirm buyers across the price spectrum are active in this community on both sides of the new/resale divide.
PEMBERTON in Zionsville shows steady NC absorption: 2 pending ($1,399K and $1,700K) against 1 sold ($1,338,446) with competitive per-square-foot pricing that positions it below Chatham Hills on cost but comparable on size delivery.
Bridgewater Club in Carmel has a $3,950,000 resale pending (11,487 sqft) — the largest pending resale transaction in Hamilton County this quarter by price — alongside additional activity in Fishers at the $1.15M tier.
Springs of Cambridge in Fishers is one of the most active NC communities outside Westfield, with 2 active listings in the $1.09M–$1.17M range and strong resale comp support.
Admirals Sound (MSD Lawrence Township, Indianapolis) contributed multiple transactions including a $2,155,000 resale close (5,237 sqft, $411/sqft) — reinforcing the premium that waterfront-adjacent Lawrence Township addresses command.
Forward Signal: What Q1 Data Tells Us About Q2 2026
The active and pending pipeline heading into Q2 tells two distinct stories by tier. In the $1M–$1.5M range, the forward RCPI of 1.221 signals continued pricing pressure from new construction — buyers in this tier will continue to face a meaningful new-versus-resale premium, and resale remains the better square-footage value. The 36.0% NC absorption rate overall is not alarming, but the gap versus resale’s 50.7% rate is likely to compress only if builders adjust pricing or if resale inventory tightens further.
In the $2.5M+ tier, the forward RCPI of 1.504 is a flashing yellow light for builders. Eleven active NC listings with zero pending transactions and a 50% replacement cost premium over resale asking prices is not a market condition that resolves on its own. For this tier to move, either the pricing has to come down, the resale comparables have to rise significantly, or a specific buyer with a specific brief for a specific community has to enter the market. The resale side of this tier is healthier — 5 pending out of 24 total — and will likely continue absorbing faster than NC through Q2.
One variable worth watching: the concentration of pending NC in the $1.2M–$1.5M range, particularly in Chatham Hills and Chatham Village. There are 9 pending Chatham Hills NC listings in that price band. When those closings process in Q2, they will anchor the Tier 1 sold median and likely narrow the RCPI slightly at that tier. Whether that represents a trend or a seasonal batch close will be worth distinguishing in the Q2 report.
Frequently Asked Questions: Indianapolis Luxury Real Estate Q1 2026
What is the most expensive home for sale in Westfield, Indiana right now?
As of the Q1 2026 BLC data pull, the highest-priced luxury new construction listing in Westfield is 1509 Chatham Ridge Court, priced at $4,550,000 with 6,194 square feet of living space in Chatham Hills. Westfield as a whole has the most concentrated luxury new construction inventory in the tri-county area, with 38 of 76 total NC listings — half the market — and price points running from just over $1 million to this $4.55M ceiling.
What is the Replacement Cost Pressure Index (RCPI)?
The Replacement Cost Pressure Index is a proprietary quarterly metric developed by Kris Bashenow, CLHMS, to measure the pricing gap between new construction and resale luxury homes in Greater Indianapolis. The formula divides the median price per living square foot for new construction by the median price per living square foot for resale, using MIBOR BLC transaction data across Marion, Hamilton, and Boone Counties for all $1 million-plus residential listings. A score above 1.0 indicates new construction costs more per square foot than resale. Full methodology is available at indyrealestateinsider.com.
What is the RCPI score for Indianapolis luxury real estate in Q1 2026?
The Q1 2026 RCPI scores across the three price tiers are: Tier 1 ($1M–$1.5M) = 1.154, meaning new construction costs 15.4% more per square foot than resale; Tier 2 ($1.5M–$2.5M) = 1.082, an 8.2% premium; and Tier 3 ($2.5M+) = 1.137, a 13.7% premium. All three tiers confirm new construction trades above resale on a per-square-foot basis. The forward RCPI for Tier 3 is 1.504 — a 50.4% premium — even as zero $2.5M+ new construction homes went under contract during the quarter.
How does new construction compare to resale in Westfield, Indiana?
New construction in Westfield dominates luxury supply — 38 of 76 tri-county NC listings are in Westfield, with Chatham Hills representing 26.3% of all new construction in the dataset. On a per-square-foot basis, Westfield NC closed at $233.46/sqft while Westfield resale closed at $258.89/sqft — resale actually trades slightly higher per square foot in this city. At the $1.4M–$1.6M price point, resale delivers a median 6,021 square feet versus 4,501 for new construction — a 1,520-square-foot advantage for the same budget.
What neighborhoods have the most luxury real estate activity in Hamilton County in 2026?
In Q1 2026, Hamilton County luxury activity is concentrated in Chatham Hills in Westfield (20 new construction listings), Village of Westclay in Carmel (multiple pending resale transactions), Bridgewater Club ($3.95M pending), Jackson’s Grant ($595/sqft resale close — the highest in the dataset), Holliday Farms in Zionsville (4 NC listings including a $2.3M close), and Springs of Cambridge in Fishers. Carmel alone recorded 32 sold resale transactions this quarter — the highest volume of any city in the dataset.
Data Sources & Methodology
- New Construction listings: 76 total (32 Active, 18 Pending, 26 Sold)
- Existing/Resale listings: 262 total (75 Active, 77 Pending, 110 Sold)
- Counties covered: Marion, Hamilton, Boone
- Property type: Residential, single-family
- Minimum price: $1,000,000
- Statuses included: Active, Pending, Sold
- Data pull date: April 6, 2026
- RCPI formula: Median New Construction Price per Living Sq Ft ÷ Median Resale Price per Living Sq Ft; Sold transactions for official score; Active+Pending for forward signal
- Source: MIBOR Broker Listing Cooperative (BLC). Data deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Prepared by Kris Bashenow | Real Broker, LLC.
About Kris Bashenow, CLHMS
Kris Bashenow is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS) with The DeBoor Group, Real Broker, LLC, specializing in luxury residential real estate across Westfield, Washington Township, Carmel, Zionsville, Fishers, and Downtown Indianapolis. She developed the Replacement Cost Pressure Index as a proprietary tool to give her clients a data-grounded framework for evaluating new construction versus resale in Greater Indianapolis’s competitive luxury market. To discuss what the RCPI data means for your specific situation, reach out directly at (317) 451-4213 or visit indyrealestateinsider.com.
