Governor Hochul Announces More Than $21 Million to Make the Dream of Homeownership a Reality for More Than 70 Families

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the first round of awards for her innovative MOVE-IN NY program. More than $21 million was awarded to create 72 new homes in the City of Syracuse and the Town of Tonawanda. The Greater Syracuse Land Bank was awarded $15,730,000 for 52 homes and the Town of Tonawanda was awarded $6,050,000 for 20 homes.

The MOVE-IN NY program harnesses the benefits of prefabricated homes to quickly build more affordable starter homes in communities throughout New York. The program is supported by $50 million that the Governor secured in the FY 2025-26 Enacted State Budget. The factory-built homes used in the MOVE-IN NY program can be built quickly and economically, at a large scale. Referred to as "CrossMods," these homes resemble traditionally constructed single-family homes and can be integrated in all types of housing markets including urban, suburban and rural communities.

"To make homeownership a reality for more New Yorkers, my administration is harnessing a variety of resources to create new homeownership opportunities across the state," Governor Hochul said. "Innovative new programs like MOVE-IN complement our traditional homeownership initiatives and we look forward to seeing this investment make the dream of owning a home a reality for more families and individuals."

The funds, which were awarded through a competitive process, will be used to purchase and site over 70 prefabricated CrossMod homes through the MOVE-IN NY program, which is administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). The homes are expected to be sited this summer and will be sold for less than the cost of construction to low and moderate income homebuyers.

CrossMods are built to the Federal HUD Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Code and meet design guidelines approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which enables homebuyers to access conventional mortgages.

Throughout New York, smaller, more affordable homes - often referred to as "starter homes" - have become increasingly scarce, preventing young individuals and families from becoming first-time homeowners and older New Yorkers from downsizing. In recent years, construction costs, materials and interest rates have skyrocketed, making the typical cost to construct a small, single-family home in New York upwards of $450,000 or more.

As part of her 2025 State of the State, Governor Hochul proposed using innovative approaches to homebuilding to catalyze the construction of starter homes and help create more opportunities for affordable homeownership. In 2025 New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) successfully piloted the MOVE-IN NY program with the creation of three new starter homes in the cities of Schenectady and Syracuse, as well as the Town of Newcomb. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,500-square-foot homes, which include a porch and a garage, were manufactured in a factory and then sited on vacant land owned by local land banks. The homes were constructed and sited within six months - which is up to three times faster - and for half the cost of comparably sized homes built using traditional construction methods.

The program was subsequently expanded statewide through an open competitive Request for Applications issued in the Fall of 2025 that encouraged interested local governments, land banks, non-profit housing developers and home manufacturers to apply to participate.

In December 2025 Governor Hochul signed the Land-Home Property Act into law, creating a formal statutory procedure for classifying a manufactured home as real property. The new law takes effect at the end of this year and will allow manufactured homeowners to convert their title from personal property (known as chattel) to real property, which helps eliminate barriers to financing and improves access to traditional mortgages.

As part of her 2026 State of the State, Governor Hochul proposed additional funding to support further expansion of the MOVE-IN NY program as well as the continued exploration of innovative emerging factory-built and modular construction technologies. This investment will help New York build new affordable homes more quickly and economically throughout the state and remain a leader in using innovative approaches to homebuilding

New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said, "Governor Hochul is leading the way on tackling the affordability crisis through innovative programs like MOVE-IN NY that harness the speed of creating factory-built homes with the financial benefits of traditionally constructed houses. This $21 million investment for the first round of awards demonstrates that commitment. Thanks to our public and private partnerships, we are strengthening communities and neighborhoods and making the dream of homeownership a reality for over 70 families. We look forward to continuing to make more investments like this as the program progresses."

Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens said, "We are grateful for Governor Hochul's transformative investment through the MOVE-IN NY program, which will help us bring high quality, affordable homes to Syracuse. By leveraging innovative prefabricated construction, we can deliver new housing more quickly, more efficiently, and at a scale that meets the urgency of today's housing challenges. For many families, the chance to become homeowners is the first step toward long term stability and I am eager to see this initiative project at work. This support from New York State Homes & Community Renewal will allow us to strengthen neighborhoods, and continue building a more vibrant and equitable future for families in our community."

Tonawanda Town Supervisor Joseph Emminger said, "Owning a home is something that everyone dreams about when they are growing up but unfortunately, affording a home has become more challenging in recent years. Tonawanda has become a very desirable place to raise a family due to the quality services we offer and to be able to offer 20 new homes to young families looking to raise their families here, due to the MOVE-IN-NY Program will help make those dreams come true. Without Governor Hochul's leadership on this issue, those lots would remain empty and those dreams would remain unfulfilled."

Greater Syracuse Land Bank Executive Director Katelyn Wright said, "We are thrilled to receive support from NYS to turn 52 land bank lots into affordable, quality single-family homes that are so badly needed in our community. With factory-built homes, we can move faster to meet the demand for housing."

Governor Hochul's Housing Agenda

Governor Hochul is dedicated to addressing New York's housing crisis and making the State more affordable and livable for all New Yorkers. Since FY23, the Governor has worked to increase housing supply to make housing more affordable by launching a $25 billion five-year comprehensive Housing Plan, enacted the most significant housing deal in decades and implemented new protections for renters and homeowners. Under Governor Hochul's leadership, HCR has created new programs that jumpstart development of affordable and mixed-income homes - for both renters and homebuyers. These include the Pro-Housing Community Program, which allows certified localities exclusive access to up to $750 million in discretionary State funding. More than 410 communities throughout the state have been certified Pro-Housing.

As part of Governor Hochul's 2026 State of the State, the Governor proposed her "Let Them Build" agenda, a series of landmark reforms to speed up housing and infrastructure development and lower costs. This initiative will spur a series of common-sense reforms to New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and executive actions to expedite critical categories of projects that have been consistently found to not have significant environmental impacts, but for too long have been caught up in red tape and subject to lengthy delays.

The FY27 Executive Budget completes the Governor's current five-year Housing Plan to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes statewide, including 10,000 with support services for vulnerable populations plus the electrification of an additional 50,000 homes. More than 80,000 affordable homes have been created or preserved to date. The Executive Budget also invests $250 million in capital funding to accelerate the construction of thousands of new affordable homes.

Contact the Governor's Press Office