Two hours north of New York City, the Catskill Mountains real estate market is settling into a slower, more deliberate pace. The frenzy of pandemic-era buying has faded, and for agents who have worked this region through multiple cycles, the current conditions feel both familiar and instructive.
Elizabeth Alfeld, a broker with Keller Williams Realty Hudson Valley North, has spent nearly 24 years watching this region grow from a seasonal ski destination into a year-round second-home market. Her perspective offers a ground-level view of what is actually happening in an area that received outsized national attention during COVID – and what it looks like now that the spotlight has dimmed.
Market Normalizes
After years of bidding wars and waived contingencies, the Catskills market has returned to something closer to its pre-pandemic rhythm. Sales prices are holding close to asking, with transactions closing at roughly 96% of list price. But the texture of deals has changed considerably. During COVID, buyers from downstate New York were routinely offering above asking price, skipping inspections, and competing aggressively for limited inventory. “People were coming up from downstate and just throwing their money,” Alfeld notes.
That urgency has faded. Buyers are no longer waiving inspection contingencies or skipping negotiations. They are making offers below list price and negotiating after inspections – behavior that was rare when competing buyers were lined up behind them.
The result is a market moving between balanced and buyer-leaning conditions, though not a buyer’s market in the traditional sense. Prices have not meaningfully declined, but properties are sitting longer, and sellers who resist adjusting their expectations are finding the market less forgiving than it was two or three years ago.
Seller Expectations
One of the more persistent challenges is managing seller expectations still anchored to pandemic-era valuations. “Everybody still wants COVID prices,” Alfeld says. It is a dynamic she navigates carefully, drawing on comparable sales data while acknowledging the emotional dimension of pricing a home.
Her approach is pragmatic. When sellers push for a higher list price than the data supports, she is willing to test the market within reason. “I have the comps, I have the facts. They have their heartstrings, and so does the buyer.” The agreement she reaches with sellers is straightforward: if showings come in without offers over the first few weeks, the conversation returns to where she originally recommended pricing.
That kind of client management matters more in a normalizing market than it did when demand was absorbing almost anything listed.
County Inventory Gaps
Beyond pricing, the supply picture adds another layer of complexity – and it varies significantly across the region. Ulster County, which includes Kingston and sits near Woodstock, remains relatively tight. Well-priced properties there still draw multiple offers. Greene County, just to the north and closer to Albany, is showing more inventory movement. “I think this is the first year since COVID that it feels like a spring market,” Alfeld observes. “I’m starting to see more houses come on the market.”
The distinction matters for buyers and investors who may be treating the Catskills as a single market. Sub-market dynamics differ meaningfully, and local knowledge continues to carry real weight in determining where value and opportunity actually sit.
Rental Restrictions Rise
While inventory levels are loosening in parts of the region, another force is reshaping what buyers can do with the properties they purchase. During the pandemic, Airbnb demand in the Catskills surged as city residents sought extended escapes. That wave of investor buying absorbed inventory that might otherwise have served local first-time buyers, contributing to affordability pressures the area has not fully resolved.
Municipal responses have followed. Towns including Woodstock and the city of Hudson have moved to restrict or cap new short-term rental permits. “A lot of the towns are doing restrictions on them, because there’s nowhere for our first-time homebuyers to buy or rent,” Alfeld explains.
For investors still evaluating short-term rental potential, the landscape has become more complicated. Designated resort areas – including communities around Hunter Mountain and spots like Round Top, which historically served as vacation destinations – tend to have more permissive environments. But buyers assuming they can operate an Airbnb in any Catskills town are increasingly running into regulatory walls.
When short-term rentals are permitted, certain property types consistently outperform. A-frames, log homes, and cabins with mountain views near ski slopes or biking trails attract the strongest interest. “What people want when they come up to an Airbnb is an A-frame or a log home – picture a mountain home,” Alfeld says. Generic suburban-style homes do not generate comparable demand.
Year-Round Appeal
These regulatory and inventory changes are playing out against a broader structural shift: the Catskills are no longer a purely seasonal market. The region built much of its second-home identity around skiing and winter recreation. That remains part of the draw, but the amenity base has broadened considerably – wineries, breweries, hiking, mountain biking, and a more developed food and hospitality scene have extended the appeal across all four seasons.
“I think we’re not as seasonal as we used to be,” Alfeld says. The buyer profile remains largely downstate New York residents seeking a second home, but the motivation has evolved. A property that once served primarily as a ski weekend retreat now functions as a genuine second residence used throughout the year.
That has longer-term implications for how properties are valued, marketed, and searched. Year-round usability has become a selling point in a way it simply was not before 2020.
Brokerage Adapts
Beyond her own book of business, Alfeld also carries managing broker responsibilities – a dual role that gives her a broader view of how agents in the region are adapting. She is candid about the pressures facing smaller firms. “I don’t know that boutique firms are going to have an easy time with AI and all the changes in the industry. Just keeping up is a lot.”
Her position within a larger franchise structure has provided access to legal resources and compliance support that she sees as increasingly valuable as regulatory complexity grows. Compensation structure changes, disclosure requirements, and evolving buyer representation norms are all creating real operational demands for agents and brokers.
For the Catskills market specifically, the near-term outlook points toward gradual normalization rather than correction. Prices are stable, inventory is slowly improving in some sub-markets, and buyer behavior is returning to patterns that experienced agents recognize from before the pandemic. That may feel like a slowdown compared to the past few years, but for a market built on long-term second-home ownership rather than speculation, the return to fundamentals may be exactly what the region needs to sustain its growth.
About the Expert: Elizabeth Alfeld is a broker with Keller Williams Realty Hudson Valley North, covering the Catskill Mountains region of New York. She has nearly 24 years of experience in the market, with dual responsibilities as both a practicing agent and managing broker.
This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.
