Welcome to Capitol & Market, our all-member source for industry and advocacy news, legal updates, housing market insights, education and professional development opportunities for Indiana REALTORS®.

Property taxes have been a hot topic this year: Governor Braun has signed significant homeowner property tax relief into law that will deliver more than $1.3 billion in residential tax savings over the next three years. (Learn more about Senate Bill 1.)

But these changes in tax credits and deductions don't affect the property assessments used to calculate next year’s tax bills - the assessment process is often confusing to homeowners who see their assessed values rise even though they've made no renovations or upgrades to their properties. 

Indiana property assessments are supposed to change with the market, putting REALTORS® in prime position to help clients and prospective clients understand their assessments and use market data to check their accuracy (and even advise whether they may be able to appeal).

The Timing: Homeowners should have their 2025 property assessments (or be getting them in the mail this week).

Resources: Explain the assessment process to clients, compare their assessment to price trends in their neighborhood using our interactive map.

Mortgage rates have settled slightly lower over the past week-and-a-half and have remained below 7% (and only 20 basis points higher than lowest point of 2025) despite recent market volatility. This has kept weekly pending sales trending above 2024, though activity softened a bit in mid-April.

The latest weekly data from your association, county, or any township or ZIP code is available on demand at the IAR Housing Hub.

April is Fair Housing Month – but as IAR General Counsel Richelle Cohen Mossler notes in this video legal update, fair housing should be a twelve-month priority for REALTORS® and member brokerages. Richelle provides a refresher on key concepts in federal Fair Housing law and the NAR Code of Ethics, including new training resources (and options to fulfill NAR’s Fair Housing education requirement):

As the housing market continues its seasonal upturn, May also kicks off the heaviest leasing months of the year. According to our most recent member survey, more than a third of you own or manage rental properties – as such, we wanted to recirculate this Q&A on property management issues.

(Remember, brokers can’t truly practice property management “on the side” without involving their managing brokers – when duties require licensure, they fall under the supervisory responsibility of the managing broker, and could create brokerage liability.)

Last Thursday, the Indiana General Assembly wrapped up its 2025 session. Many bills that passed last week – including the final state budget – are still waiting for Governor Braun’s signature, but we can point to a number of legislative wins for homeowners, taxpayers and the real estate industry as part of the REALTOR® agenda:

For more details, check out last week's legislative report. If you aren't on the list for regular government affairs updates, just reply with a note to this message and we'll add you!

June 30th is a week closer than it was the last time we reminded you about the upcoming Continuing Education deadline. So here's another request - please get started on your CE requirements as soon as possible to protect your license, avoid penalties and escape any last-minute mishaps or technical difficulties.

And remember, it’s easy for IAR members to complete their requirements with plenty of time to spare with online, member benefit courses from RECP:

(IAR members: Please be sure to log in and do not purchase the 12-hour CE package - these courses are included in your membership dues. Email info@recp.org for help logging in.)