Albany Weighing More Taxes for Real Estate in New York City
By Manhattan Real Estate Tracker, May 24, 2026
High-value NYC homes are the focus of Albany’s 2026 real estate tax proposals, which aim to reduce municipal budget shortfalls. A Pied-à-Terre tax and a 1% all-cash purchase tax are the two primary tax ideas that state legislators have discussed; however, the latter has encountered significant opposition and may be eliminated from the budget.
- The Tax on Pied-à-Terre: Non-primary residences are the object of this yearly surcharge. It is intended to raise around $500 million a year to assist address the budget gap in New York City, with an initial focus on luxury second residences. A sliding-scale annual levy for flats with high assessed market values was proposed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul.
- The 1% All-Cash Purchase Tax: A one-time transaction tax on upscale, all-cash purchasers was also proposed by state legislators. The proposal is to impose an additional 1% tax on the total sale price for buyers who purchase a NYC property (main or secondary) without a mortgage for more than $1 million.
Real estate organizations like the Real Estate Board of New York strongly oppose these taxes, which could be removed from the final budget. Visit the official New York State Governor’s Newsroom to keep up with current state budget updates.
