Syracuse, New York Real Estate Market 2026: Score 96 With More Buyers Under Contract Than Homes Listed

Syracuse, New York scores 96 out of 100 on the PropertyIQ index as of February 2026.

At 96, Syracuse sits in the top tier of all U.S. metros tracked in the PropertyIQ dataset. The score has held between 96 and 98 for most of the past two years. That kind of sustained score reflects structural market conditions, not a temporary demand spike.

PropertyIQ scores Syracuse a 96 out of 100 as of February 28, 2026. Scores are updated monthly using Zillow, Census, and Realtor.com data.

More Homes Under Contract Than Available to Buy

The defining metric in the Syracuse market right now is the pending ratio: 1.6766 as of February 2026.

A pending ratio above 1.0 means there are more homes under contract than there are active listings. Syracuse at 1.68 means for every 100 homes available to buy, 168 are already under contract with a buyer.

That is a structural supply crisis. It is not the result of a single hot month or an unusual spike in buyer activity. It is the cumulative result of:

• New listings declining 7.44% year over year as of February 2026
• Total inventory declining 14.83% year over year as of February 2026
• Demand that has not softened across two years of national mortgage rate pressure

The supply score is 28.09 out of 100, one of the lowest readings in the dataset, reflecting severe supply constraint. When supply scores fall this low, pending ratios above 1.0 are the direct consequence.

What Buyers Are Paying

The median listing price in Syracuse is $277,777 as of February 1, 2026. Buyers are paying above asking: the sale-to-list ratio is 101.26% as of November 2025.

At 101.26%, the average transaction closes at approximately $281,200 -- about $3,400 above list price. In a market where 168 buyers are competing for every 100 active listings, paying above asking is the predictable outcome.

The five-year appreciation rate is 41.4%. Syracuse home values have increased by nearly half over the past five years, driven not by speculative demand but by the same structural supply shortage that produces the 96 score today.

Affordability

The income required to purchase at the median price in Syracuse is $73,832 annually. The metro median household income is $73,558 as of 2023 Census data.

The gap is $274 per year.

That is the smallest income gap between what it takes to buy and what the average household earns of any A-tier market covered in this dataset. For context, most markets scoring 90 or above carry income gaps of $15,000 to $100,000 or more. Syracuse is an A-tier market that remains functionally accessible to median-income households.

The overvaluation reading is -4.8%, meaning Syracuse home prices sit slightly below what local income fundamentals would support. The high score reflects supply scarcity, not speculative price inflation.

How Syracuse Compares to Northeast Peers

Rochester, NY scores 99 as of February 2026, the highest score in the northeast. Hartford, CT scores 98. Albany, NY scores 96. Buffalo, NY scores 98.

Syracuse at 96 fits the pattern of upstate New York and New England high-scorers: modest price points, minimal new construction pipeline, stable employment base, and no speculative overhang from the 2020-2022 national boom. These markets did not spike 40-50% in 18 months the way Sun Belt metros did, so they also did not experience the correction that followed in those markets.

The Economic Foundation

The Syracuse metro population is approximately 651,866 as of 2023 Census data. Syracuse University anchors the education sector, with healthcare and manufacturing providing additional employment stability.

The homeownership rate reflects a market where buying is accessible relative to renting. With new listings declining year over year and no significant new construction pipeline visible in the data, the supply constraint is unlikely to resolve quickly.

What the Data Does Not Show

The PropertyIQ Score does not predict future prices. A 96 score reflects current supply-demand conditions as measured through the most recent monthly data. If new listings increase significantly over the next two to three quarters, the score will adjust.

The 5yr +41.4% appreciation figure is historical, not a projection. Zillow's near-term forecast reflects their proprietary model. PropertyIQ presents both as data points for context, not as guidance.

PropertyIQ score as of February 28, 2026. Listing and inventory data as of February 1, 2026. Zillow home value data as of January 31, 2026. Sale-to-list data as of November 30, 2025. Forecast data as of December 2025. Census data as of 2023. Economic data as of November 2025. All data for informational purposes only.