If you’ve seen a headline this fall saying Tompkins County home prices are down, the number is real.
The median sale price fell 7.6% this year, from $395,000 to $365,000.
If you own a home here, that probably made your stomach drop a little. If you’re trying to buy, it might have made your heart jump.
But both reactions could cost you money, because when I dug into every single-family and condo sale in Tompkins County from January 1 through October 12 and compared it to the same stretch of 2025, I found something different:
The typical home in Tompkins County is worth almost exactly what it was a year ago.
Here’s what’s really going on, and why it matters whether you’re selling, buying, or just curious what your house is worth.
The number that didn’t move
As Real estate people we tend to love the median sale price because it’s simple. ANOTHER more detailed measure of value is price per square foot. Here it is:
| 2025 | 2026 | |
| Median sale price | $395,000 | $365,000 |
| Median price per sq ft | $209 | $208 |
| Homes sold | 521 | 519 |
Same number of sales. Same value per square foot. So why did the median fall $30,000?
The answer: we sold different houses
In Tompkins County in 2026:
- Sales under $200,000 doubled, from 45 to 91.
- Condo sales rose from 25 to 36.
- Sales between $400,000 and $600,000 fell by almost a third, from 159 to 111.
- The typical home sold got smaller, from 1,841 to 1,770 square feet.
More small, lower-priced homes changed hands rather than the $400K–$600K family homes. That alone pulls the median down
It means that LESS PEOPLE are BUYING the more EXPENSIVE homes. But some homes really did lose ground
This is where it gets interesting, and where it matters most for your home.
When I compare similar-size homes, most of the mix effect goes away. Here’s what’s left:
| Home size | Price per sq ft, 2025 → 2026 |
| 1,200–1,600 sq ft | $220 → $215 |
| 1,600–2,000 sq ft | $212 → $197 (−7%) |
| 2,000–2,600 sq ft | $208 → $206 |
| 2,600+ sq ft | $195 → $209 (up) |
The softest part of the market is the mid-size home, about 1,600 to 2,000 square feet. Those are the three-bedroom homes that young families and move-up buyers chase. Larger homes held up, and the biggest homes gained.
Location matters too. By price per square foot:
- Softer: Town of Ithaca ($253 → $226), Ulysses ($225 → $200), Caroline ($196 → $170)
- Holding steady: City of Ithaca ($241 both years), Lansing ($223 → $225), Dryden ($186 → $181)
- Gaining: Enfield ($163 → $177)
So there isn’t one Tompkins County market. The same week a mid-size home in the Town of Ithaca sells for less than it would have last year, a home in Lansing or the City of Ithaca might sell for the same, and one in Enfield for more.
Spring wobbled, and summer bounced back
The year didn’t move in a straight line:
| Quarter | Median price, 2025 → 2026 | Price per sq ft, 2025 → 2026 |
| Jan–Mar | $340,000 → $320,500 | $196 → $189 |
| Apr–Jun | $410,000 → $356,000 | $218 → $200 |
| Jul–Sep | $420,000 → $409,000 | $213 → $216 |
Spring, normally our strongest season, was where buyers held back hardest. By summer, price per square foot was slightly above last year. What really changed: buyer patience
Prices held, but buyers changed how they shop:
- Homes now take a median of 13 days to go under contract, up from 8 last year.
- 37% go under contract within a week, down from 44%.
Five extra days doesn’t sound like much. But it’s the difference between a market where everything sells in a weekend and one where buyers take a second look, compare, and negotiate.
And the sellers who didn’t adjust paid for it.
The $70,000 gap
162 homes in Tompkins County have expired so far this year without selling. Their median asking price was $434,950, about $70,000 above what the typical home actually sold for. The median expired listing sat on the market for 94 days before giving up.
Expirations picked up late in the season, with 31 in August and 26 in September, as listings priced last spring ran out the clock.
The 287 homes for sale right now and the 67 under contract both carry a median price of about $370,000. That’s right in line with what’s selling, and a sign that sellers are starting to price to reality.
So what does this mean for you?
If you’re thinking of selling:
Your home probably hasn’t lost 7.6% of its value. But buyers in 2026 won’t overpay to win a bidding war that isn’t happening. Homes priced right from day one still sell in under two weeks, and homes priced on hope sit, cut, or expire. If your home is a mid-size three-bedroom in the Town of Ithaca or Ulysses, pricing well at launch matters even more.
If you’re thinking of buying:
You have a bit more time and leverage than in 2025, especially on mid-size homes in the softer towns and on listings that have sat a few weeks. Don’t expect a fire sale on well-priced homes in steady areas like the City of Ithaca or Lansing. Those are holding their value.
If you just want to know what your home is worth:
That depends on its size and town, not on the county-wide median. A home in Enfield and a home in the Town of Ithaca had very different years.
The bottom line
Tompkins County home values are steady. What changed is the mix of homes that sold and how long buyers take to decide. The headline median makes this year look worse than it was, and only a few parts of the market really slipped.
Curious how your home, street, or town is doing? We’ll run the numbers for your property, no pressure and no obligation, so you know what you’re working with. Contact@HartandHomes.com or HartandHomes.com
The Hart & Homes Team at RE/MAX In Motion
Serving Ithaca, Trumansburg, and the Finger Lakes
Data source: regional MLS, single-family and condo/townhouse sales in Tompkins County, January 1 – October 12, 2026, compared with January 1 – October 12, 2025. Square footage is as reported in listings. Small-town figures can swing on a handful of sales. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.