It's been a fantastic year to be a seller of real estate in Westchester County! However, it has been extremely difficult for buyers, even those with deep pockets and aggressive bidding strategies. Let's start at the bottom and work our way up. The backdrop is this: In 2Q16, buyers could choose from over 10,500 active listings. Fast forward to 2Q26, and total active listings sat at just 3,042. That is a 71% reduction in total available inventory over ten years.
I reviewed the past 10 years of Q2 market data and can call the era of the sub-$500k home basically over. Where did the "starter home" go? Inventory has been wiped out: In 2Q16, there were about 2,600 active listings priced under $500,000. By 2Q26, that number plummeted to just 118 - a staggering 95% drop in inventory. Unsurprisingly, sales in this bracket collapsed alongside inventory, dropping from 550 sales in 2Q16 to a mere 35 in 2Q26. The waiting game in real estate has not worked, i.e., if you are looking to time the market.... stop.
The $1 million - $2 million range has become the new sweet spot. In the first 6 months of 2016, the average selling price was $798,000; in the first 6 months of 2026, it jumped 76% to $1.4 million. The most active and crazy range, though, has been $2 million - $3 million. In the past 12 months, inventory in this price range was down 30% and sales went up 11%. This led to extremely competitive situations with many homes receiving 15+ offers, bids going 30%+ over the list price, no contingencies and many cash deals. To put this into harsher perspective, the 30 year interest rate was in the mid-3's in mid-2016 whereas it is currently in the mid-6's.
The strength of this market comes from shrinking supply and also strong demand. MoneyLion just released a list of the most affluent suburbs in the USA; Westchester had 2 of the top 10 spots. Scarsdale landed the #1 spot (for the third year) and Rye was #3. The average selling price in Scarsdale in 2Q26 was $3.2 million (up 18% from 2Q25) and about $3.1 million in Rye (no change from 2Q25).
The market has calmed down a bit from the peak frenzy in March/April/May. That felt unsustainable and I welcome the break! However, bidding wars are still the norm and supply remains severly constrained. I don't see that changing anytime soon. To repeat my first line: it's been a fantastic time to be a seller of real estate in Westchester County.
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