Finger Lakes explorer
Keuka Lake field report
A Y-shaped lake should never be reduced to one straight-line median.
Keuka’s three arms, two counties, shoreline towns, steep terrain, cottages, vineyards, and seasonal inventory need to stay visible beside the market statistics.
Current market landscape
A benchmark with the product-mix warning left attached.
The 2025 closing population is large enough to benchmark, but not homogeneous enough to treat as one comp set. Municipality, arm, ownership form, and property type materially change what the lake-wide median means.
NYS Alliance of MLS Matrix; residential waterfront records marked On Waterfront = Yes and matched to the exact Body of Water Name; single-family, condominium/townhouse, and two-to-four-unit properties. Closed period: January 1–December 31, 2025. Active inventory: A-Active and C-Continue Show as of September 13, 2026. One row per MLS listing; medians describe each filtered population and are not repeat-sales appreciation.
Five-year MLS evidence
287 closings—and one median still is not enough.
Keuka’s lakewide median moved from $670,000 in 2021 to $975,000 in 2025, but this is not a repeat-sales appreciation index. The annual populations changed, and the five-year record spans seven municipalities, detached houses, and a small condo segment. The clearest split is product type: 266 single-family closings had an $830,000 median and eight-day median DOM, while 21 condo or townhouse closings had a $740,000 median and 105-day median DOM. The full price range was $164,000 to $3.625 million.
Annual waterfront market
Every qualifying MLS listing row, grouped by closed year.
YearClosingsMedian saleMedian DOM
202186$670,0008
202245$905,0008
202346$855,5009.5
202455$871,00010
202555$975,0009
Product and ownership fields change the answer
Property type is the first split; other recurring-cost and tenure fields can reveal a second.
Single-family residential$830,000266 closings · 8 median DOM
Ninety-three percent of the five-year population. The category still blends seasonal cottages, year-round homes, renovated properties, and estates, so arm and municipality remain essential.
Condo and townhouse$740,00021 closings · 105 median DOM
A much smaller and slower-moving segment. Association form, unit position, fees, dock rights, amenities, and rental rules can matter more than the lakewide benchmark.
Where those closings occurred
Tax municipality, not postal shorthand.
MunicipalityClosingsMedian saleMedian DOM
Jerusalem88$845,5008
Pulteney53$705,0008
Urbana51$695,00014
Barrington38$954,0008
Milo31$980,0008
Wayne25$871,00010
Benton1$800,00097
The price range is the story
Five-year closing distribution across the full filtered population.
Under $250k5
$250k–$499,99924
$500k–$999,999179
$1m–$1,999,99967
$2m+12
Reproduce this pull
NYS Alliance of MLS Matrix; status S-Closed/Rented; closed dates January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2025; property types Single Family Residential, Condo and Townhouse, and Multi-Family Residential (2–4 units); On Waterfront = Yes; Body of Water Name matched to Keuka Lake without regard to capitalization. The export contained 287 rows, 287 unique MLS numbers, no sale prices of $1,000 or less, and no duplicate MLS rows. All 287 records were closed, marked waterfront, and named Keuka Lake.
Counts describe MLS listing rows, not unique parcels or arms-length deeds. Participant-entered fields can be incomplete. The series is not a repeat-sales appreciation index, and no individual listing data or photographs are republished here.
The physical market
The lake itself changes the comparable set.
The branching lake creates three directions and three practical anchors: Penn Yan, Branchport, and Hammondsport. The common regional dataset used in the profile above works out to about 11,688 surface acres and a 183-foot maximum depth. A separate NYSDEC monitoring profile reports 11,584 acres and 187 feet—a useful reminder to keep the source attached even to basic lake dimensions. That monitoring profile also reports a 7.08-year retention time and a 112,825-acre watershed.
Shape is market structure.
Keuka’s unusual branching form changes orientation, travel time, exposure, nearby services, and the set of properties a buyer will actually cross-shop. “On Keuka” is only the first geographic filter.
NYSDEC Keuka unit planThe watershed is part forest, part working landscape.
The state monitoring profile reports a watershed that is roughly 50.5% forest, shrub, and grass and 31.8% agricultural. That land-use pattern is part of the lake’s current physical context.
NYSDEC lake monitoring profileFlood and sediment work reaches beyond the shoreline.
The state’s Resilient NY plan follows Keuka Inlet through Hammondsport and upstream communities, connecting lake ownership to tributaries, sediment, debris, and flood resilience.
NYSDEC flood and sediment planDo not blend these blindly
One lake. Several real-estate markets.
The names below are research cuts, not claims that every property fits neatly into one box. A parcel-level analysis still controls.
SegmentUseful comparisonCommon mistake
Penn Yan / north endVillage access, denser development, services and north-end inventoryBlending village-adjacent property with remote shoreline
Branchport / northwest armArm-specific orientation, road access, cottage stock and seasonal useAssuming the two western arms face the same market
Hammondsport / south endVillage, inlet, tourism, vineyard and south-lake comparisonsIgnoring inlet, flood, sediment, and visitor-economy context
Rural shorelineFrontage, slope, private systems, access, winterization and acreagePricing remoteness or acreage from a village comp
Current landscape
Water quality belongs in the property file.
The current NYSDEC report is the right place to check trophic condition, blooms, invasive species, and monitored parameters. It should be read alongside the property’s well or lake-intake system, septic evidence, shoreline work, and current public notices.
Open the 2025 NYSDEC lake report- Choose the arm firstName the arm, shore, nearby community, orientation, drive pattern, and realistic buyer alternatives before pulling comps.
- Test seasonal useVerify insulation, heat, water, access, parking, docks, winter maintenance, and whether the structure is legally and practically year-round.
- Trace the slopeDocument stairs, lifts, retaining walls, runoff, bluff stability, shoreline access, and the cost of moving people and materials.
- Check use rulesConfirm municipality, zoning, rental rules, lodging or commercial use, septic capacity, permits, and any association documents.
What this page can and cannot prove
Statistics first. Salesmanship last.
What is measured
The market block uses one disclosed MLS definition across all eleven lakes. Counts are listing rows. Medians describe the filtered population; they are not an appraisal, a repeat-sales index, or proof of appreciation.
What still needs parcel work
Deed, frontage, access, dock rights, association documents, legal use, municipal rules, utilities, flood information, water quality, improvements, and condition must be checked for the specific property.
Experience disclosure
No Keuka-specific Updegraff transaction has been verified in the current office report. That disclosure does not change the lakewide statistics and is intentionally kept out of the lead.
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