Ancram’s rural character fuels demand for a tight supply of homes

By Dave Hall

One of the most sought-after towns in the Hudson Valley is Ancram, in the southeast corner of Columbia County. With a blend of open fields, wooded mountains, quiet roads, and thousands of acres of conserved land, Ancram has been showing up on home buyers’ radar for a number of years. Once a purely agricultural community, the town still has a number of working farms, from traditional dairy operations to organic vegetable, grain and grass-fed meat options.

Ancram’s housing stock includes estates, charming farmhouses, modest ranches, quaint hamlet one- and two-families and a couple of affordable homes built by Habitat for Humanity. Comprised of two hamlets, Ancram and Ancramdale, each with a post office and an eatery, plus the Boston Corners neighborhood on the Massachusetts border, Ancram offers many choices for those looking for a quiet Hudson Valley home.

Ancram is named for the Scottish town associated with the Livingston family, an influential colonial family, which received an extensive grant of Mohican land from the British Crown in 1686. The town is part of the ancestral homeland of the Mohican people, many of whom were displaced during European colonization. However, some descendants of Ancram’s early European settlers continue to live in the area, alongside weekend residents and more recent arrivals from elsewhere in the United States and abroad.

Much of the soil in the town is extremely fertile, and many properties combine residential life with farming, with owners often leasing fields to local farmers. Locals and visitors from all over the region come to pick berries and to shop for farm produce.

Ancram has several bodies of water and a number of waterfront properties. Long Lake is home to two different neighborhoods, one a planned community, and Lower Rhoda Pond has a number of residences lining its shores. The Roeliff-Jansen Kill, which brings water from western Massachusetts to the Hudson River, flows through town and is lined with farms and homes.

Many landowners have put their property into conservancy, protecting it from development, thereby ranking Ancram among the towns with the most conserved land in the county. Some of that land is wooded, some is farmland, and some spots are hiking destinations, like Overmountain, which includes Round Ball Mountain, and the Drowned Lands Swamp area. There are also hiking trails in Taghkanic State Park, a portion of which borders Ancram, and canoeing and kayaking on the Roeliff-Jansen.

The varied housing choices in Ancram benefit from the rural and scenic benefits that residents have long enjoyed. From properties with expansive western views of the Catskill Mountains to ones facing the Taconic range along the Massachusetts border, homes of varying sizes and styles offer views of the landscape. And homes nestled among tranquil woods and fields also draw buyers to the area.

The high desirability and relative scarcity of available land for building have made land prices soar and has put pressure on the town’s ability to create affordable workforce housing. However, Ancram is attempting to address that challenge: its Housing Committee is tasked with finding ways to bring more housing to the town while still respecting the rural character to which the town is expressly committed.

Committee Chair Bonnie Hundt reports that questions of zoning and density are being addressed jointly by the committee and the zoning board in ongoing efforts to keep Ancram affordable to all. And the town allows accessory dwelling units (or ADUs), which can ease the inventory shortage.

The median home price in Ancram from Aug. 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026, was $672,500, compared with $663,500 during the preceding 12-month period, a 1.4% increase. Twelve homes sold between Aug. 1, 2025 and July 31, 2026, down from 16 for the same period one year prior.

As of Aug. 6, there were 15 homes for sale in zip code 12502 and 12 in 12503. That represents a 45.5% decrease year-on-year for 12502 and an increase of 100% in 12503.

Some homes currently for sale: 322 Arcadia Drive, a three-bedroom, four bath home in a planned lake community with amenities is listed at $575,000. 1715 County Route 7, a four- bedroom, three-bath 2004 hilltop colonial on 13 acres is on the market for $910,000. And with over 22 acres on the Roeliff-Jansen Kill an 1850 farmhouse with three bedrooms and three baths is on offer for $1,450,000.

With all it has to offer, from nature and food to attractive properties, Ancram is understandably in demand and inventory is tight.

David “Dave” Norman Hall is a real estate salesperson licensed in New York, and is an agent with Houlihan Lawrence.

Sales information from NY State Tax Department, and One Key and Hudson Valley Catskill Region Multiple Listing Services.

The Ancram Center for the Arts is a cultural hub offering theater, music, storytelling, and community programs.Photo by Dave Hall