Hudson Valley Housing Market Trends (2026)
New York’s Hudson Valley housing market has entered 2026 in a transition phase after years of explosive growth during the post-pandemic era.
Westchester County remains a strong seller’s market. Dutchess and Orange counties saw fewer home sales in December 2025 than in December 2024, according to real estate firm Redfin. Median home value continues to rise in all three counties.
The Hudson Valley is likely to be a seller’s market in 2026, as mortgage rates hover around 6% and inventory continues to slowly improve.
This report examines housing trends at the local, regional, and national levels. It gives buyers and sellers insights to help them decide what to do next.
January 2026 Report
The Hudson Valley housing market in January shows signs of stabilization after years of rapid growth. Median home prices have surpassed $300,000 in every county in the Hudson Valley for the first time, according to Chronogram Magazine. It marks a historic point for affordability in the region.
The rise in median home prices has slowed significantly. This is different from the double-digit increases seen in past years.
Demand from people moving from New York City continues to influence the market. However, buyer urgency has fallen largely due to a decrease in remote work options. The Albany Times Union reports that an increasing number of employers are requiring workers to return to the office.
Dutchess County
Prices
Dutchess County had a moderate rise in home sale prices in December 2025. The average price is now $493,000. This is a 3.8% increase from December 2024, based on Redfin data. Median home prices have risen 60% over the last 10 years in the county.
Market Dynamics
Houses are selling faster than last year. In December 2025, Dutchess County had an average of 44 days on the market. This is a 4-day decrease from December 2024.
Competition
New local listings in Dutchess County rose throughout 2025 but declined in December. Single-family home listings dominated the market with 93 in December, while new Condo listings numbered 16.
Condos showed some strength, with twice as many listings in December as in the same month in 2024, according to OneKey MLS, the largest real estate listing service in the New York City area.
Single-family home listings dropped 6.1% in December, while condo listings rose 100%. Home sales showed more strength. The median sales price was 2.2% higher than the listing price. In contrast, condos sold for an average of 7.9% less than their listing price.
Sales
Redfin reports that the number of homes sold in Dutchess County fell by 6.4%. In December 2024, 249 homes were sold. In December 2025, that number dropped to 233 homes. Compared with the previous month, December saw a 33-home increase, signalling moderate growth in overall market demand.
Orange County
Prices
The median sale price of a home in Orange County was $450,000 in December 2025. This is a 3.4% increase from December 2024, when the average sale price was $435,000, according to Redfin.
Orange County is cheaper than Dutchess County. However, the average home price is still above the national average of $428,346.
Market Dynamics
Houses continue to sell more slowly than last year, with Orange County reporting an average of 49 days on the market in December 2025, up 5 days from the same period in 2024.
Competition
New single-family home listings in Orange County increased to 178, up 18.7% from the same month in 2024. However, the number of listings dropped by 35 from November 2025, according to OneKey MLS.
Condo home listings in Orange County dropped 16.7% compared to December 2024. The median sales price for both single-family homes and condos hovered close to the asking price. In December 2025, condos sold for an average of 0.9% less than the asking price. Single-family homes sold for 2.1% less than their asking price on average.
Sales
In December 2025, real estate agents sold 291 homes in Orange County. This is an 8.2% drop from December 2024, when 317 homes sold, according to Redfin. Yet the number of homes sold increased from the prior month, when buyers sold 242 homes.
Westchester County
Prices
In December 2025, Westchester County had a median home sale price of $785,000. This was an increase of 8.3% from the same time in 2024, according to Redfin. Westchester is one of the hottest housing markets in the country and remains the most expensive county in the Hudson Valley for real estate.
Market Dynamics
Westchester County homes sold in December 2025 took 31 days. This is the same as in December 2024, according to the report. It took two fewer days to sell a home in November 2025. The data signals strong market stability in the county.
Competition
Single-family-home listings in Westchester County dropped by less than 1% in December 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to OneKey MLS. The median sales price for a single-family home was $980,000, slightly higher than the list price on average.
Condo listings dropped by 7.7%, while co-op home listings rose by 1.1%. In both cases, the median sales price matched the listing price. The median sales price for condos was $540,000, while the median sales price for co-op homes reached $242,500.
Sales
In December 2025, 673 homes were sold in Westchester County, an increase of 3.7% from the same period last year, according to Redfin. In November 2025, 519 houses were sold, marking a 154-unit increase from November to December 2025. The one-month jump in sales signals strong market activity.
Regional Comparison
The Hudson Valley housing market demonstrates a clear three-tier pricing structure across its major counties, with Westchester County commanding a significant premium as the region’s luxury market. At a median price of $735,000 across all property types and exceeding $1 million for single-family homes, Westchester positions itself 50-130% above neighboring counties, attracting high-income NYC commuters and executives willing to pay for proximity to Manhattan and acclaimed school districts.
This premium pricing creates a 58% gap between Westchester and Orange County, and a 50% gap compared to Dutchess County, establishing Westchester as the dominant high-end market in the region.
Dutchess and Orange counties offer substantially more accessible entry points, with Dutchess serving as the region’s mid-tier option at a median of $490,000, and Orange County providing the most affordable pathway to homeownership at $465,000. The relatively modest 5% price difference between these two counties suggests they compete for similar buyer demographics—middle- to upper-middle-income families, first-time buyers and value-conscious professionals—while Westchester operates in an entirely different market segment.
This pricing hierarchy effectively segments the Hudson Valley into distinct affordability zones, with buyers self-selecting based on budget constraints and lifestyle priorities rather than proximity alone.
National Comparison
The Hudson Valley housing market is dramatically outperforming national trends across nearly every measurable metric. The region is one of America’s hottest real estate markets for 2026.
While national home prices are forecast to appreciate just 1-4% this year, growing slower than wages for the first time in over a decade, Hudson Valley counties are seeing appreciation rates of 4.3% to 6.9%, with Westchester County’s single-family homes surging an extraordinary 11% annually, nearly five times the national rate
The housing market nationally is transitioning from seller’s to balanced territory, with homes averaging 27 days on market, declining bidding wars, and buyers regaining negotiating power to include inspections and financing contingencies.
Westchester County, specifically, operates in an alternate reality: homes sell 22% faster than the national average, bidding wars remain standard, contingencies are routinely waived, and pandemic-era competitive intensity is still firmly intact. Meanwhile, Dutchess and Orange counties move more slowly than the national average at 42 and 48 days, respectively, demonstrating significant variation even within the Hudson Valley itself.
While the national inventory is approaching 4.6 months of supply and moving toward a healthy housing balance, the Hudson Valley remains severely constrained, with just 2.4 months in Westchester and 3-4 months in neighboring counties, far below the 5-6 months that signal equilibrium. Limited developable land, strict zoning regulations, and the lingering lock-in effect from low pandemic-era mortgages create a supply-demand imbalance that new construction cannot solve, particularly in land-scarce Westchester, where development remains minimal. This fundamental scarcity, combined with the region’s position as a beneficiary of reverse migration from overbuilt Sun Belt markets, ensures the Hudson Valley will continue to command premiums and outpace national trends even as mortgage rates gradually decline throughout 2026.
What This Means for Hudson Valley Housing Market
If You’re Thinking of Selling
If you’re selling in the Hudson Valley in 2026, you’re operating in one of the strongest seller’s markets in the nation. While conditions vary significantly by county, sellers across the region have considerably more leverage than most of America—but the window for maximum advantage may be narrowing in some areas.
If You’re Looking to Buy
Buying in the Hudson Valley in 2026 requires a different strategy for each county you’re targeting. You’ll face everything from intense bidding wars (Westchester) to emerging negotiating opportunities (Orange County). Unlike most of America, where the market is rebalancing in buyers’ favor, much of the Hudson Valley is firmly in sellers’ territory. Smart buyers can still find opportunities.
Upcoming Changes
Buyer agent agreements are now mandatory
Since August 2024, all home buyers in New York must sign a written agreement with their buyer’s agent before touring any property. This agreement must clearly specify the agent’s commission (whether a percentage, flat fee, or hourly rate), explicitly state that all fees are negotiable and not set by law, and prohibit the agent from receiving more than the agreed amount. Buyer’s agent commission offers can no longer be advertised on the Multiple Listing Service, which means buyers now bear more responsibility for negotiating and potentially paying their agent’s fee directly. This represents a significant shift in transparency and requires buyers to have upfront conversations about costs before even beginning their home search.
Large institutional investors face new restrictions on home purchases
Starting in mid-2025, New York’s fiscal year 2026 budget imposed strict limits on institutional investors. These are entities that own 10 or more single- or two-family homes and have at least $50 million in assets under management. The goal is to prevent big investors from buying up residential properties. These covered entities are now barred from making offers on one or two-family homes until the property has been on the open market for at least 90 days, with penalties up to $250,000 per violation. Additionally, these institutional buyers face tax penalties unless the property is ultimately sold to an individual for use as their primary residence. This change aims to reduce competition from cash-heavy investors and give individual buyers a fairer chance at homeownership.
Anti-discrimination protections have been strengthened for home appraisals
New York has made it a violation of the State’s Human Rights Law to discriminate when providing real estate appraisals, specifically targeting the pervasive appraisal bias that has historically undervalued homes owned by families of color. The Department of State can now fine appraisers who violate these rules, with half of the collected fines supporting fair housing enforcement. The state budget also includes $4 million in new funding for fair housing testing.
Conclusion
The Hudson Valley’s 2026 housing market, one of the nation’s most resilient and appreciating real estate markets, offers genuine opportunities for wealth building through appreciation, but only for those who approach it with realistic expectations.
The market is decidedly not uniform. Westchester County remains an extremely competitive seller’s market accessible primarily to high-income buyers with substantial cash reserves. Dutchess County offers a more balanced middle ground with moderate competition and improving inventory, while Orange County presents the region’s best buyer opportunities as a cooling market with sales volume down 22.6% and genuine negotiating leverage emerging.
With mortgage rates stabilizing around 6%, gradual inventory improvements across all three counties and fundamental demand drivers like quality of life, top-rated school districts and proximity to the New York City job market, the region should see continued appreciation, albeit at more sustainable rates than the explosive pandemic years.
The key to navigating this market successfully, whether buying or selling, lies in recognizing that county selection is paramount, timing matters significantly (especially the winter opportunity window and spring surge), and professional guidance from experienced local agents is essential.
