Westchester Real Estate Market Mid-Year 2026: What Buyers and Sellers Need to Know

The Compass Mid-Year 2026 Market Report is out, and it confirms what many buyers, sellers, and agents have felt on the ground for months. The Westchester real estate market remains tight, competitive, and fast-moving, even as the number of homes changing hands continues to shrink.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling in Westchester County this year, here’s what the data actually shows, and what it means for you.

The Big Picture: Fewer Sales, Higher Prices, Faster Deals
Across Westchester County, single-family home sales are down 10.5% compared to this time last year. Only 1,829 homes sold county-wide in the first half of 2026, down from 2,043 in the same period of 2025.

At the same time, prices are climbing. The median single-family home price is up 15.8% year-over-year, to $1,100,000. Average price is up 11.4%, to just under $1.46 million. And homes are moving faster too: the average time on market dropped 12.8%, down to 41 days.

Put simply, the Westchester real estate market isn’t cooling. It’s just running short on inventory. Fewer homes are listed, but buyer demand hasn’t let up, so the homes that do come to market are selling quickly and for more.

This same pattern shows up in the condo and co-op markets, though less dramatically. Condo sales are actually up 4.7% this year, with median price roughly flat. Co-op sales are down slightly, but co-op prices are up 6.8% and days on market dropped nearly 16%.

Why Inventory Is So Tight
A few forces are keeping the Westchester real estate market short on listings this year. Homeowners locked into lower mortgage rates are often reluctant to sell and take on a new, higher rate. Many empty nesters and downsizers are staying put too, in part because they aren’t sure where they’d go next in this same tight market. And more homeowners are choosing to renovate their current homes rather than list and compete for a new one.

None of these factors are new. They’ve been shaping the Westchester real estate market for a while now, and this report shows they’re still very much in play at mid-year 2026.

What This Means If You’re Buying
If you’re house hunting in Westchester right now, the biggest challenge is competition, not price alone. With fewer homes on the market and demand holding steady, well-priced, well-presented homes are drawing serious interest quickly.

A few practical takeaways for buyers:

• Get fully pre-approved before you start touring, so you can move fast when the right home comes up.
• Be prepared to make decisions quickly. A 41-day average time on market county-wide means many homes are moving faster than that.
• Work with an agent who has hyper-local knowledge of your target towns, since conditions vary meaningfully block to block.

What This Means If You’re Selling
For sellers, especially those who’ve been on the fence, current conditions in the Westchester real estate market remain favorable. Limited inventory means less competition from other listings, and buyer demand is still strong enough to support rising prices in most areas.

That said, pricing correctly still matters. Buyers are competitive, but they’re also informed, and an overpriced listing can sit even in a tight market. Working with an agent who understands your specific town’s numbers, not just the countywide trend, makes a real difference in strategy.

A Closer Look at the Sound Shore
County-wide numbers only tell part of the story. The Westchester real estate market varies significantly by town and school district, and the Sound Shore communities show that clearly. Here’s a snapshot of median price and days on market, year-over-year, for several southern Westchester towns:

• Rye City: median price down 1.9%, average 48 days on market (up slightly)
• Rye Neck: median price up 19.3%, average just 10 days on market (down nearly 70%)
• Rye Brook (Blind Brook school district): median price up 16.0%, average 28 days on market (down a third)
• Harrison: median price up 69.6%, average 67 days on market (up)
• Mamaroneck/Larchmont (Mamaroneck school district): median price up 14.8%, average 22 days on market (down over 20%)
• New Rochelle: median price up 13.1%, average 34 days on market (down over 25%)
• Scarsdale: median price up 16.3%, average 51 days on market (down 15%)
• Bronxville: median price down 0.7%, average just 17 days on market (down nearly 60%)

A quick note on Harrison’s number: a jump that large, on a smaller number of total sales, usually points to a shift toward more high-end homes selling this year rather than typical, broad-based appreciation. It’s a real, published figure, but it’s worth reading with that context rather than as a sign every Harrison home gained 70% in value.

Bronxville stands out as a genuine outlier in the group. Prices there are essentially flat, but sales volume is up and homes are moving faster than almost anywhere else on this list, a different pattern from the rest of the Sound Shore.

Every Neighborhood Is Different
The Westchester real estate market at the county level tells a consistent story: tight inventory, resilient demand, and fast-moving sales. But within that story, every town, and often every neighborhood, has its own numbers behind it.

If you’re weighing a move in Rye, Harrison, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, Bronxville, or anywhere else in southern Westchester, the countywide averages are a starting point, not the full picture. The right next step is understanding what’s happening specifically where you live or where you’re looking to buy.

Frequently Asked Questions
Is now a good time to sell a home in Westchester County? For many sellers, yes. Inventory remains limited across the Westchester real estate market, which means less competition from other listings and continued buyer demand in most towns.

Is now a good time to buy a home in Westchester? It depends on your timeline and flexibility. Buyers face more competition due to limited inventory, but rates and prices vary meaningfully by town, so local guidance matters more than the county average.

Why are Westchester home prices rising while the number of sales is falling? Fewer homeowners are listing their homes, largely due to locked-in low mortgage rates, uncertainty among downsizers about where to move, and a preference for renovating instead of relocating. With demand holding steady against that limited supply, prices are being pushed up even as transaction volume declines.

Which Westchester towns are seeing the fastest home sales? Rye Neck and Bronxville show the fastest pace this year, with average days on market well below the county average of 41 days.

Curious what these trends look like for your specific street or neighborhood? Reach out anytime.