How has Good Cause Eviction affected Albany apartment values since 2024?

Albany opted in during June 2024, making it the only Upstate market with two full years of transaction activity under the law. The mechanism by which it affects value is the buyer's rent-growth assumption: an increase above the lower of 5% plus local CPI, or 10%, is presumed unreasonable and must be justified by documented operating cost increases, which constrains how aggressively a buyer can model mark-to-market on in-place rents. Because the law has been in force here longer than anywhere else outside New York City, buyers price it as a known quantity rather than an unknown risk. We have not published a quantified estimate of the pricing impact because we have not verified one, and a number invented for a website is worth less than none.

Is Albany stricter than Rochester under Good Cause Eviction?

In one important respect, yes — which runs against the common assumption. Units are exempt from the law only when rent exceeds a set percentage of fair market rent, and municipalities choose that percentage. Rochester adopted the statutory default of 245%. Albany adopted 345%, meaning its ordinance reaches further up the rent ladder before a unit escapes coverage. Both cities set the small-landlord exemption at the statutory minimum of one unit anywhere in New York State. So Albany matches Rochester on that measure and covers a broader band of rents on top of it.

Does Good Cause apply in Troy, Schenectady, or Saratoga County?

Troy adopted its own ordinance in spring 2026, with the city council overriding a mayoral veto in April. Note that Troy had not yet appeared on the DHCR published list as of the notice current on 4 May 2026, so confirm current status directly before relying on it. The City of Schenectady has not opted in, and neither have the Saratoga County municipalities, including Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta, and Wilton. This makes the Capital Region the most jurisdictionally fragmented market in Upstate New York.

Is GlobalFoundries driving apartment demand in Saratoga County?

Yes, and more reliably than Micron is in Syracuse, because Fab 8 in Malta is an operating facility rather than a construction site. GlobalFoundries announced an $11.6 billion expansion in 2024 adding more than 1,500 jobs over the following decade. Saratoga County is the region's most competitive submarket as a result, with demand in the Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta and Wilton corridor outpacing supply. Most of that county has also not adopted Good Cause Eviction, which compounds the advantage for owners there.

Multifamily & Industrial Investment Sales in Albany, NY

High Peaks Capital Advisors is a multifamily and industrial investment sales brokerage serving Albany and the Capital Region of New York. We represent owners of apartment and industrial property across Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Saratoga counties on dispositions, valuations, and off-market placement.

Albany was the first municipality outside New York City to adopt Good Cause Eviction, in June 2024, which makes it the only market in the state with two full years of transaction history under the law. It also adopted a broader version than Rochester did — a detail that is widely misread, and that works against the assumption that Rochester is New York's strictest jurisdiction.

June 2024

First municipality outside NYC to opt in

345%

Rent exemption threshold — broader coverage than Rochester

$11.6B

GlobalFoundries Fab 8 expansion, Malta

$1B

Albany Nanotech research expansion

Good Cause adoption and exemption thresholds: NYS Homes and Community Renewal, required DHCR notice current as of 4 May 2026. GlobalFoundries and Albany Nanotech figures: public announcements, 2024 onward.

01 / Regulation Two years of data nobody has organised

Albany is stricter than Rochester, not looser.

Albany opted into Good Cause Eviction in June 2024, ahead of every other municipality in the state outside New York City. That gives the Capital Region something no other Upstate market has: two full years of buyer behaviour under the regime.

The detail most often missed concerns how broadly the law reaches. Under the state statute, a unit is not covered if its rent exceeds a set percentage of fair market rent. Municipalities choose that percentage. A higher percentage means fewer units escape the law, so coverage is broader.

The counterintuitive part

Rochester adopted the statutory default of 245%. Albany adopted 345%. Because units are exempt only above the threshold, Albany's ordinance reaches considerably further up the rent ladder than Rochester's.

Rochester is frequently described as having passed "the strongest possible version" of the law. That is true of its small-landlord exemption, which is set at the minimum of one unit — but Albany matches that, and covers a wider band of rents on top of it.

Applied to Albany County fair market rents, the exemption thresholds land here:

Unit type	HUD fair market rent	345% exemption threshold
Efficiency	$1,217	$4,199
1 bedroom	$1,417	$4,889
2 bedroom	$1,702	$5,872
3 bedroom	$2,041	$7,041
4 bedroom	$2,253	$7,773

Fair market rents as published by NYS DHCR in the required Good Cause Eviction notice current as of 4 May 2026, using HUD fair market rents for federal fiscal year 2025. The 345% column is calculated from those published rents at the City of Albany's adopted threshold; DHCR publishes the 245% statutory column directly. Thresholds are republished annually on or before 1 August. Verify with DHCR and counsel before relying on them.

The practical consequence for a seller. In a market where median rents run well below these thresholds, effectively the entire conventional rent roll inside the City of Albany is covered. Buyers underwrite constrained rent growth accordingly, and have been doing so since mid-2024 — long enough that it is priced in rather than treated as a novelty.

02 / Jurisdiction One metro, several different rulebooks

The Capital Region is the most jurisdictionally fragmented market we cover. Two comparable buildings twenty minutes apart can sit under entirely different regimes, and the difference does not show up on a rent roll.

The City of Albany is covered. Troy adopted its own ordinance in spring 2026, with the council overriding a mayoral veto in April; note that Troy had not yet appeared on the DHCR published list as of the 4 May 2026 notice, so owners there should confirm current status directly. Most of Saratoga County — including Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta, and Wilton, where GlobalFoundries demand concentrates — has not opted in. Neither has the City of Schenectady.

For a seller, this fragmentation is an argument for a broker who tracks it. For a buyer comparing two assets across a county line, it is frequently the difference in what they will pay.

03 / Demand The chip corridor

The Capital Region's demand story is steadier and further along than Syracuse's. GlobalFoundries operates Fab 8 at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta, and announced an $11.6 billion expansion in 2024 adding more than 1,500 jobs over the following decade. Albany Nanotech is undertaking a $1 billion research expansion. Unlike the Clay megafab, these are extensions of operations that already exist and already employ people.

Underneath that sits state government employment, which is unglamorous and close to recession-proof. It is the reason Capital Region multifamily rent growth has held in a positive range while several Sun Belt markets went flat or negative, and it is the actual pitch to a risk-aware buyer.

04 / Geography Where product trades

Albany County — Good Cause applies in the city

Downtown Albany
Center Square
Pine Hills
Delmar
Colonie
Guilderland

Rensselaer, Schenectady and Saratoga counties

Troy
City of Schenectady
Niskayuna
Glenville
Rotterdam
Clifton Park
Halfmoon
Malta
Wilton
Ballston Spa

Saratoga County is the region's most competitive submarket, with demand in the Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta and Wilton corridor outpacing supply and GlobalFoundries employment concentrated there. Schenectady County is the current value play, with Niskayuna and Glenville holding steady while the City of Schenectady and Rotterdam draw increasing investor attention.

05 / Questions Common questions from owners in this market

How has Good Cause Eviction affected Albany apartment values since 2024?

Albany opted in during June 2024, making it the only Upstate market with two full years of transaction activity under the law. The mechanism by which it affects value is the buyer's rent-growth assumption: an increase above the lower of 5% plus local CPI, or 10%, is presumed unreasonable and must be justified by documented operating cost increases, which constrains how aggressively a buyer can model mark-to-market on in-place rents.

Because the law has been in force here longer than anywhere else outside New York City, buyers price it as a known quantity rather than an unknown risk. We have not published a quantified estimate of the pricing impact because we have not verified one, and a number invented for a website is worth less than none.
Is Albany stricter than Rochester under Good Cause Eviction?

In one important respect, yes — which runs against the common assumption. Units are exempt from the law only when rent exceeds a set percentage of fair market rent, and municipalities choose that percentage. Rochester adopted the statutory default of 245%. Albany adopted 345%, meaning its ordinance reaches further up the rent ladder before a unit escapes coverage.

Both cities set the small-landlord exemption at the statutory minimum of one unit anywhere in New York State. So Albany matches Rochester on that measure and covers a broader band of rents on top of it.
Does Good Cause apply in Troy, Schenectady, or Saratoga County?

Troy adopted its own ordinance in spring 2026, with the city council overriding a mayoral veto in April. Note that Troy had not yet appeared on the DHCR published list as of the notice current on 4 May 2026, so confirm current status directly before relying on it.

The City of Schenectady has not opted in, and neither have the Saratoga County municipalities, including Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta, and Wilton. This makes the Capital Region the most jurisdictionally fragmented market in Upstate New York.
Is GlobalFoundries driving apartment demand in Saratoga County?

Yes, and more reliably than Micron is in Syracuse, because Fab 8 in Malta is an operating facility rather than a construction site. GlobalFoundries announced an $11.6 billion expansion in 2024 adding more than 1,500 jobs over the following decade.

Saratoga County is the region's most competitive submarket as a result, with demand in the Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Malta and Wilton corridor outpacing supply. Most of that county has also not adopted Good Cause Eviction, which compounds the advantage for owners there.

Sources. Good Cause adoption, exemption thresholds and fair market rents: NYS Homes and Community Renewal required DHCR notice current as of 4 May 2026, using HUD fair market rents for FY2025. Troy adoption: Spectrum News. GlobalFoundries and Albany Nanotech: public announcements.

Market figures on this page are drawn from third-party research and public records and are cited to their sources. They are provided for general information, are current only as of the dates indicated, and will change. Nothing here is legal, tax, or investment advice, and nothing here is an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or service. Regulatory summaries are general descriptions of published law, not a determination of how any statute applies to a specific property — consult counsel before acting.

Investment sales in the Capital Region.