The Lake Home Resource
FINGER LAKES REGION
Recent sales, historical trends, and local market perspective for Seneca Lake waterfront homes.
Market Reports / Seneca Lake
Updated October 4, 2026 · Recent sales through September 30, 2026 · History: 2016–2025 · Bob Markel, Licensed Real Estate Broker
Closed sales
October 2025–September 2026
Median sale price
$675,000 in the preceding twelve months
Total sales volume
$41.8 million in the preceding period
| Measure | Oct. 2024–Sept. 2025 | Oct. 2025–Sept. 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Closed sales | 53 | 50 |
| Median sale price | $675,000 | $810,500 |
| Total sale volume | $41,804,289 | $42,473,729 |
| Median sale / final list price | 98% | 98% |
October 2024–September 2025
October 2025–September 2026
A decade of closed waterfront sales, sale prices, time on market, and price-range comparisons.
Hover or tap a year for its exact value. Calendar-year figures differ from the rolling twelve-month periods in the current report.
| Year | Closed sales | Median sale price |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 55 | $320,000 |
| 2017 | 58 | $304,096 |
| 2018 | 55 | $340,000 |
| 2019 | 70 | $371,500 |
| 2020 | 43 | $419,000 |
| 2021 | 59 | $621,000 |
| 2022 | 49 | $600,000 |
| 2023 | 28 | $552,950 |
| 2024 | 41 | $675,000 |
| 2025 | 56 | $682,500 |
Ranges do not overlap: a $500,000 sale belongs in $500,000–under $750,000; a $750,000 sale belongs in $750,000–under $1 million. Bars show each range’s share of sales.
| Year | Under $500k | $500k–<$750k | $750k–<$1m | $1m–<$1.5m | $1.5m–<$2m | $2m+ | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 47 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 |
| 2017 | 53 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 |
| 2018 | 48 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55 |
| 2019 | 53 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 |
| 2020 | 31 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 43 |
| 2021 | 21 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 59 |
| 2022 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 49 |
| 2023 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 28 |
| 2024 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 41 |
| 2025 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 56 |
| All years | 306 | 110 | 68 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 514 |
Seneca recorded 50 selected sales in the latest twelve months, compared with 53 in the preceding period. Its median increased from $675,000 to $810,500, about 20%, while total volume moved only slightly, from $41.8 million to $42.5 million. A higher median alongside nearly unchanged volume points to the mix of properties sold rather than a simple market-wide surge.
The largest change was in the $1 million–under $1.5 million range: 13 sales, compared with just 1 in the preceding period. Sales from $500,000 to under $750,000 fell from 23 to 15, and sales at $2 million or above fell from 2 to 0. In the historical series, the selected median rose from $371,500 in 2019 to $682,500 in 2025. The latest rolling-year median covers different dates and should not be confused with the 2025 calendar-year figure.
My interpretation is that Seneca’s recent median was lifted by a larger middle-to-upper price segment, even as the total number of sales slipped slightly. These results do not demonstrate a shortage of listings or measure demand directly. They do show why a cottage, a renovated year-round home and a larger waterfront property should not be priced from the same median alone.
For Seneca sellers, recent sales within the same price range and with similar water access offer a more useful benchmark than the lake-wide figure. Buyers can use the price-band tables to understand where transactions occurred, then compare the practical waterfront features of each property.
Source: MLS-reported sales. These are sales reported by participating brokers and agents, not all sales personally represented by Bob Markel or Robert Markel Real Estate LLC.
Information is believed reliable but is not guaranteed. Records may contain errors, omissions or duplicate entries, and selected totals may exclude uncertain records or miss eligible sales. Figures may be revised as information is corrected. Changes in median price reflect the homes sold and do not measure appreciation for every property. This report is general market information, not an appraisal.
Every Seneca lake home is different. The amount of frontage tells only part of the story: level access, steps or slopes to the water, shoreline condition, dock facilities and the home’s improvements can make otherwise similar properties very different. These reports provide market context, but they cannot replace a property-specific review. Ask Bob to discuss your home, shoreline and plans.
Ask Bob about your lake home