Four land banks will use the final 2026 award round to place 61 factory-built starter homes in Long Island, the North Country and the Finger Lakes.
MOVE-IN NY is directing nearly $20 million to four land banks for 61 new homes that are intended to be sold below construction cost to buyers with low or moderate incomes. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the final 2026 round on Friday, October 23.
The awards do not create an immediate statewide application for individual buyers. The money goes to the land banks, which will purchase and site the homes, arrange local approvals and later manage the sale process. New York did not announce addresses, prices, completion dates or buyer application periods with this round.
Where the $20 million is going
- Essex County Land Bank: $7.26 million for 24 homes in the North Country.
- Wayne County Regional Land Bank: $3,327,500 for 11 homes. The land bank said the homes will be in the Town of Lyons.
- Rochester Land Bank Corporation: $4,537,500 for 15 homes in Rochester’s Northeast Quadrant.
- Suffolk County Landbank: $4.84 million for 11 homes on Long Island.
The four awards total $19,965,000. According to the governor’s office, all 2026 MOVE-IN NY awards now exceed $80 million and are expected to produce homeownership opportunities for 250 households.
None of the final-round awards is in the Mohawk Valley. The program still matters locally because its model is designed for urban, suburban and rural places with vacant residential lots. It also gives local governments and land banks a tested example to study if future state funding becomes available.
What a CrossMod home is
MOVE-IN NY uses a type of factory-built home known as a CrossMod. These homes are built under the federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Code, then transported to a prepared site and installed on a permanent foundation or crawl space. Utilities and final construction work are completed at the property.
That is different from saying every factory-built house is the same. The state’s program requires designs that resemble site-built single-family homes and meet standards connected to Fannie Mae’s MH Advantage or Freddie Mac’s CHOICEHome programs. Those standards can make conventional mortgage financing and site-built appraisal methods available for a qualifying home.
Freddie Mac says a certified CHOICEHome must meet federal code plus additional structural, energy and architectural requirements. Eligible borrowers may be able to use conventional mortgage products with down payments as low as 3 percent, depending on the loan and the borrower’s qualifications. A low down payment is not automatic approval, and it does not remove closing costs, taxes, insurance or monthly affordability tests.
How MOVE-IN NY is designed to cut time and cost
New York tested the approach with one home each in Syracuse, Schenectady and Newcomb. The state’s original request for applications says those pilot homes had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a front porch and a garage, with about 1,500 square feet of living space.
The pilot homes took just under six months from order to completed installation and cost slightly more than $250,000 each, according to Homes and Community Renewal. HCR compared that with more than $450,000 to build a typical small single-family home in New York and said the pilot was as much as three times faster and nearly half the cost of a comparable site-built home.
Those are pilot results, not a guaranteed price or schedule for every award. Land preparation, utilities, permits, delivery access, foundations and local labor can change the final cost. The MOVE-IN NY funding can cover home purchase and delivery, site preparation, foundations, permits, utility connections and final work needed for a certificate of occupancy. It generally does not pay for land acquisition or major new infrastructure.
The program also limits major customization. HCR’s application materials say participants select from a menu of base models, with limited changes that do not substantially increase price or delay installation.
Who the homes are meant to serve
HCR’s program rules say sales must target households ranging from 70 percent to 130 percent of area median income. Across a participant’s group of homes, the average sale price must be affordable to a household at 100 percent of area median income. HCR may convert part of its loan to the developer into a grant to help a lower-income buyer or close an appraisal gap.
The homes will also carry a 10-year resale restriction based on the buyer’s income. That rule is meant to protect the public investment and keep the subsidy tied to affordability. Buyers should review any deed restriction, resale formula, owner-occupancy requirement and maintenance obligation with a qualified housing counselor or attorney before signing a contract.
Hochul said the program is intended to bring homeownership within reach by combining public subsidy with faster factory construction. HCR Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas described the round as an investment in housing security. Leaders of the Essex, Wayne, Rochester and Suffolk land banks emphasized different local needs, including rural housing shortages, senior downsizing, workforce housing, vacant-lot reuse and access to generational wealth.
What this could mean for the Mohawk Valley
The Mohawk Valley has many of the conditions MOVE-IN NY was designed to address: older neighborhoods with vacant lots, small municipalities with limited development staff, rural communities where new construction can be expensive, and working households priced out of new homes even when existing houses cost less than the statewide average.
The approach could help fill scattered lots without requiring a large subdivision. It could also create accessible one-story options for older residents who want to downsize while staying in their community. But factory construction does not solve every barrier. A site still needs suitable zoning, a foundation, utilities, delivery access and local approval. HCR required 2025 applicants to control at least 10 ready-to-build sites within one municipality and obtain a formal local resolution accepting the federal construction code used by CrossMods.
The Phoenix has previously reported on 16 factory-built homes planned in Amsterdam through a separate affordable homeownership project. We also covered new Habitat for Humanity homes in Canastota. Those projects show how public subsidy, vacant land and local development partners can work together, even when the funding program is different.
What prospective buyers should do
People interested in these 61 homes should watch the four land banks for property addresses, income limits, prices and application instructions. They should not pay anyone claiming to guarantee a MOVE-IN NY home or a place on a state waiting list. No such statewide buyer list was announced with Friday’s awards.
A practical buyer checklist
- Follow the Essex County, Wayne County, Rochester and Suffolk land banks for project notices.
- Prepare income records, tax returns, identification and proof of funds for closing costs, but send documents only through a verified application channel.
- Talk with a HUD-approved housing counselor before choosing a mortgage.
- Compare the full monthly cost, including principal, interest, taxes, insurance, utilities and any required maintenance.
- Ask for the appraisal, inspection, warranty information and resale restriction before committing.
Local officials and nonprofit developers in the Mohawk Valley can review the MOVE-IN NY program rules to understand what made an application competitive. The 2025 application window is closed, and the October 23 announcement described this as the final 2026 award round. Communities should wait for a new HCR notice before preparing a formal submission.
The larger housing plan
The governor’s office says MOVE-IN NY began with $50 million in the fiscal 2026 state budget. The fiscal 2027 budget added $100 million for further expansion and for continued work on factory-built and modular construction.
The administration also points to a $25 billion, five-year housing plan intended to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes, including 10,000 homes with supportive services. More than 87,000 homes have been created or preserved so far, according to the state. Those totals cover many rental and homeownership programs and should not be confused with the 250 homes associated with MOVE-IN NY awards.
Factory-built homes can add supply more quickly, but the public should still be able to evaluate cost, quality, neighborhood fit and long-term affordability. For each local project, land banks should publish the final number of completed homes, total public subsidy, sale prices, buyer income ranges and any homes that take longer than planned.
Would factory-built starter homes help close a housing gap in Utica, Rome or another Mohawk Valley community? Tell the Utica Phoenix which vacant areas or buyer needs local officials should study. Please do not share income documents or other private financial information in comments.
Sources: New York Governor’s Office; New York State Homes and Community Renewal; MOVE-IN NY request for applications; Freddie Mac CHOICEHome guidance.
