Prices are up a little, but homes are taking almost twice as long to sell, and there's a new school tax question on the November ballot. Here is what that means if you are buying or selling in Elwood.
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Elwood's median single-family sale was $170,450 from January through September, up about 7% from $159,900 a year earlier. Closings were close to flat, 123 against 117. The big change is time: homes spent a median of 38 days on market, up from 20.
Sellers received 95.7% of list price on average, about the same as last year and the lowest of the four Madison County towns I cover. Supply was 4.4 months in September, against 3.2 for the county. So buyers here usually have time to look and some room on price and repairs. Sellers who price high are the ones waiting.
Elwood is a city, with a mayor and council, and 8,410 people in the 2020 Census (a Census estimate of 8,525 for 2025). It sits in northwest Madison County on SR 28 and SR 13, with SR 37 crossing its southeast corner; a sliver of about two half-blocks is in Tipton County. The town boomed on natural gas found in 1887, and in 1892 it pioneered tin-plate manufacturing. Wendell Willkie was born here and accepted the 1940 Republican presidential nomination in Callaway Park. Red Gold, the tomato company, has its headquarters in Elwood.
What you are actually buying: a median about $165,000 below Pendleton's, a downtown on the National Register and a city-owned golf course. What you are giving up: the drive and some certainty on costs. Noblesville is about 20 miles away on SR 37, the school tax question on the ballot would add about $245 a year on a $100,000 home if it passes, and the city has proposed higher water and sewer rates.
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Uptown, the park side, the highway corner and the Tipton County sliver are different buys, and the city has plans for the SR 37 corner.
The Elwood Downtown Historic District was listed on the National Register in 2002. It covers about 45 acres along Main Street (SR 28) and Anderson Street (SR 13), with 51 contributing buildings from about 1887 to 1952, including the Opera House, the 1899 former City Hall and the 1901 Carnegie Library. The city runs a 50/50 façade-match program uptown. Older homes nearby mean older systems. Budget for the inspection findings.
See homes →Callaway Park, 40 acres at 1135 N. 19th St., was given to the city in 1917. It hosts the Elwood Glass Festival in August, and the Panther Prowl walking path connects it to the Rock Garden. The Elwood Public Library is close by at 1600 Main St.
See homes →The city has an option on two acres at SR 37 and SR 28 for a planned 54-room hotel (Herald Bulletin, March 2025). A sports complex of up to about $10 million, with an indoor building and four ball diamonds, is also planned; sources differ on the site, and I couldn't confirm a start date.
See homes →The city bought the closed 1924 course in 2016 and reopened it in 2017. Bison Ridge Estates, a rental development of homes, villas and apartments, was built around it. I didn't find a production builder selling new homes in Elwood.
See homes →Duck Creek runs along the north side of the old core and forms part of the historic district's boundary. A 1913 flood photo in the library's archive shows it out of its banks. Near the creek, check the FEMA flood map for the specific parcel.
See homes →About two half-blocks of the city are in Tipton County, and West Elwood, just outside the city, is unincorporated. A Tipton County address is assessed by Tipton County, and Tipton's local income tax is 2.6%, against Madison's 2.25%. Confirm the county and school district for the specific address.
See homes →Elwood is served by Elwood Community School Corporation. Parts of the surrounding Pipe Creek Township are in Frankton-Lapel Community Schools instead, and the Tipton County side wasn't something I could confirm, so check the assignment for the specific address. Hinds Career Center, a career and technical school serving several districts, is in Elwood.
Elwood Community Schools has an operating referendum on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It asks for a property tax rate of no more than $0.49 per $100 of assessed value, raising no more than $2.5 million a year, for up to eight years. The ballot question lists staff retention and recruitment, transportation, technology, and security programs. If it passes, the state's filing says a median $100,000 home would pay about $245 a year more. Voter-approved levies sit outside the property tax caps. Sources: DLGF determination 26-033 and the Herald Bulletin, July 30, 2026.
The district's only earlier operating question on the state's list, in November 2010 at $0.50 per $100, failed.
The Elwood Glass Festival fills Callaway Park on the third weekend of August, with a parade, car show and crafts. Elwood Golf Links is a city-owned 18-hole public course. The old city pool closed in 2020; the council approved bonds for a new one in 2023, and I couldn't confirm that it has opened.
There's no interstate in Elwood. SR 37 runs about 20 miles southwest to Noblesville, Anderson is about 17 miles southeast, and Tipton is 10 miles west on SR 28. Sources put downtown Indianapolis anywhere from 35 to 50 miles away. Drive your actual route at your actual start time before you commit.
Indiana caps homestead property tax at 1% of gross assessed value under the circuit breaker, so most owner-occupants land at or near that figure before any voter-approved referendum rate, which sits outside the cap. Rentals and second homes are capped at 2% and should be modeled separately. Madison County's local income tax is 2.25%, per the Indiana Department of Revenue's county rate notice, against 1.1% in Hamilton County; on $100,000 of taxable income that is about $1,150 more a year. In June 2026 the city council took up water and wastewater rate increases of about $23.70 on a typical residential bill; I couldn't confirm the final vote. Confirm assessments with the Madison County Assessor.
If you'll be driving to Indianapolis every weekday, do that drive at rush hour before you buy. If you want new construction, the production-builder communities in Madison County are in Pendleton. If you want a similar price with homes selling faster, Anderson's median is $175,000 and its homes sold in a median of 18.5 days.
The median single-family sale was $170,450 from January through September 2026, on 123 closings, up from $159,900 over the same months of 2025. Source: MIBOR Broker Listing Cooperative.
Slower than last year. Homes spent a median of 38 days on market in 2026 through September, up from 20. Supply was 4.4 months in September, and sellers received 95.7% of list price on average.
Elwood Community School Corporation serves the city. Parts of the surrounding township are in Frankton-Lapel Community Schools. Confirm the assignment for the specific address.
Yes. Elwood Community Schools is asking voters on November 3, 2026 for an operating levy of no more than $0.49 per $100 of assessed value, up to $2.5 million a year, for up to eight years. If it passes, a median $100,000 home would pay about $245 a year more, per the DLGF filing.
Madison County's local income tax is 2.25%, on top of Indiana's 2.95% state rate, per the Indiana Department of Revenue. The small Tipton County part of the city is at Tipton County's 2.6%.
Sources put downtown Indianapolis 35 to 50 miles away. Noblesville is about 20 miles southwest on SR 37, and Anderson about 17 miles southeast.
I'm Wes Johnston, a Realtor with Trueblood Real Estate, based in Fishers. I cover the whole Indianapolis metro, and every guide on this site is built the same way: MIBOR numbers, public sources, and the trade-offs a listing description won't mention.
My job isn't to open doors. It's to tell you what a house is actually worth, what's wrong with it, and whether it's the right move for what you're trying to do — then negotiate hard on your behalf and own the process from contract to close.
If you're two years out, that's fine. Most of my best clients started with a question, not a showing.
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