This Week's Snapshot
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate ticked down to 6.46% this week (Freddie Mac PMMS, April 2), marking the third consecutive weekly decline. This is still well above the sub-3% rates of 2021, but the downward trajectory is encouraging for buyers sitting on the sidelines.
Active inventory continues its march upward at 734,000 listings nationally, up 11.2% year-over-year. More supply means more negotiating power for investors — and in several markets, price cuts are rising. Median days on market sits at 52, three days longer than a year ago. The market is normalizing, slowly.
The takeaway: Rates are trending down. Inventory is trending up. For cash-flow investors, the math is getting better every month. If your market has a LadderScore above 60, run the proforma — you might be surprised.
Top 5 LadderScore Markets This Week
Our proprietary LadderScorerates 900+ U.S. markets on a 0-100 scale using 50+ factors from 26 data sources. Here are this week's top performers:
| # | Market | LadderScore | Cash Flow | LS12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tazewell County, IL | 71 Healthy | 88/100 | 69 |
| 2 | Peoria, IL | 70 Healthy | 100/100 | 67 |
| 3 | Sangamon County, IL | 69 Healthy | 85/100 | 68 |
| 4 | Winnebago County, IL | 68 Healthy | 90/100 | 65 |
| 5 | Trumbull County, OH | 67 Healthy | 97/100 | 64 |
The Midwest continues to dominate. All five top-scoring markets are in Illinois or Ohio — markets with strong cash flow ratios, affordable price-to-income, and low supply constraints. Peoria leads with a perfect cash flow score of 100, meaning its rent-to-price ratio is among the highest in the country.
What they have in common: price-to-income ratios under 3.5x (the national median is ~5.0x), low building permit activity (supply constrained), and unemployment rates below the national average. These are the fundamentals our LadderScore algorithm rewards most heavily.
Market of the Week: Indianapolis, IN
LadderScore: 57 (Stable) · Cash Flow: 74/100
Marion County · Pop. 971,822 · Price-to-Income: 3.26x
Indianapolis has been a favorite of out-of-state investors for years, and the numbers still hold up. With a price-to-income ratio of just 3.26x (vs. 5.0x nationally), a FHFA appreciation rate of 4.23% year-over-year, and a landlord-friendliness score of 88/100, Indy remains one of the strongest cash-flow markets in the country.
The catch? Unemployment has ticked up to 4.0% (from 2.8% earlier in the cycle), and the Eli Lilly expansion — while creating thousands of jobs long-term — hasn't yet fully materialized in hiring data. This is a market that rewards patience and fundamentals-based investing.
Our take:Indianapolis is a “steady climber” — not flashy, not a quick flip market, but a place where the numbers work for buy-and-hold investors who plan to own for 5+ years. The LadderScore12 forecast of 57 (stable) means we expect it to hold its ground, not decline.
View the full Indianapolis market analysis →
One Actionable Step This Week
Run a proforma on a real listing in your target market. Go to Zillow or Redfin, find a property that looks interesting, and plug the numbers into our Proforma Calculator. Select the market from the dropdown and it'll auto-fill real rent and cost data.
The goal isn't to find a deal this week. It's to build the muscle of evaluating deals quickly. After 10 proformas, you'll be able to spot a good deal in under 5 minutes. That's the skill that separates investors who buy from investors who just talk about buying.
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Data sourced from Freddie Mac PMMS, Zillow ZHVI/ZORI, Redfin, FHFA HPI, Census Bureau, BLS, and 20+ additional sources. LadderScore methodology: proprietary 50+ factor algorithm backtested against actual ZHVI appreciation data.
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