April 20th Market Update: Columbia County Real Estate
Are we in a Buyer’s Market or Seller’s Market?
Realtor.com reports that 60% of the nations largest housing markets are now balanced or buyer friendly. Only 26% of the top markets remain sellers market. So where does the Hudson Valley, specifically Columbia County fall on that spectrum? Well, let’s take a look at where things stand today in Columbia County, NY in the Residential real estate market.
What happened in March?
The Median sale price in March rose to 580K which is up 4.8% from March last year and up 169K over February. The median sale price for the first quarter is $497,500 down -3.6% year over year.
The number of Homes sold in March is up 14.7% year over year and are up 21% year to date. There have been 104 homes sold January thru March vs 86 last year.
71 new listings hit the market in March which was down -11% year over year. In the first quarter, the number of new listings is down -4%.
41 Homes were placed under contract in March, down -22% year over year. In the first quarter the number of homes going under contract was down -7% year over year. To date, only 28 homes have gone under contract this month. Pending sales and new listings are softer than usual.
Average days on market in March was 146, a 52% increase or 50 more days compared to last year. For the first quarter the average days on market was 118 days, up 28% year over year.
The sale price to list price ratio was 95.4% in March, down -3 points from last year but a 2 point increase over February. This ratio looks to be tightening as we move towards peak spring market.
What about Price changes?
48% of homes sold saw a price reduction before selling. The average price reduction is 10.3%. Here’s where it gets really interesting: homes with price changes saw an average of 169 days on market, where homes with no price changes had an average of 74 days on market. That’s right, Homes that required a price reduction took more than twice as long to sell and ultimately sold for about 10% less than their original price.
Fast forward back to today
The median list price today is $599,900 There are currently only 227 homes on the market and that includes homes with accepted offers that have not gone under contract yet. Unfortunately that is significantly less available homes today than there were a year ago.
101 homes or 45% of all homes are sitting between 300-750k. Which is where 60% of all sales have happened YTD. 56 homes or 24.7% of all inventory is over $1M and this price range has only seen 15% of all sales YTD. You can clearly see two different markets here. The core market has an inventory problem, homes are selling faster than new inventory is hitting and the luxury market has growing inventory.
Back to the question “Are we in a buyer’s or seller’s market? “
Coming out of March there was only 4.17 months of inventory available, about 1 month less compared to last year. From June to December 2025 we saw 6 months of inventory or higher which is considered a balanced market. We are now looking at only 4 months of inventory for the first quarter and new listings are lagging in the early spring market which tells us that the market may be tightening towards sellers. But the growing days on market, sale price to list price ratio and the number of price changes show us that buyers have power. So… it’s complicated.
What does all this mean for you?
Whether you are buying or selling, you need a real estate advisor to help you build the most effective strategy for your specific situation and help you navigate the complexities of today’s market. If that’s you give me a call and let’s put together a strategy to achieve your real estate goals.
*stats from HVCRMLS on 4/19/26
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