By Stefan Yablonski
The real estate market in Central New York is extremely competitive and heavily favors sellers, characterized by rapidly rising prices, low inventory and homes selling in roughly 23 days on average. Driven by demand, pandemic-era trends and the Micron project, the Syracuse area is ranked among the fastest-heating markets. Median sale prices have reached record highs.
“The real estate market is very strong and stable currently,” agreed Bill Galloway, Century 21 Galloway.
It is still a seller’s market because of the lack of inventory, he added.
“The prices have stabilized, that’s good for the buyers. “There is more activity happening right now,” he said. “With lower interest rates every thing has been very strong and positive.”
A lot of investors, thinking about Micron, are buying properties left and right thinking about turning them into rentals for the workers that will be coming into the area.
“I expect 2026 to be a more balanced year between sellers and buyers in Oswego County. We have progressively seen more inventory and it’s predicted to continue to have more sellers listing their homes and buyers are getting close to 6% for interest rates,” said Constance Ryan of Century 21. “Some price ranges will still be tight with multiple offers, but there will be more choices overall.”
“We are seeing more of a buyer’s market in recent months. However, with the official groundbreaking of Micron, the market may take a turn back to a seller’s market,” said Jennifer Hall, an agent with Howard Hanna. “In the last week in Oswego County we’ve seen eight price reductions on single family homes. Something that was rarely happening in years prior with how fast homes were selling. It’s giving current buyers an opportunity to shop around. Though, more inventory would be nice. In the last week we have 11 new listings in Oswego County (single family homes). It will be interesting to see how the upcoming spring market kicks off! Usually, we see an uptick in listings as well as new buyers entering the market.”
“The year 2026 is carrying a lot of promise in the Central New York real estate market,” said Ed Fayette, an agent with Century 21 Galloway. “With the mortgage rates trickling down to close to 6%, buyer interest is beginning to grow. I think if we dip into the 5% (mortgage rate percentages) we could see a buyer frenzy like we saw in 2021, because it’s still a seller’s market and inventory still running low.”
