Hudson's Headline Price Jump And Its New-Home Pipeline Are Telling Different Stories
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
Hudson's median sale price rose 26.7% in a single year, according to the August 2026 numbers. If you're comparing Hudson with Woodbury or Stillwater, that figure can make the town look like it's running away from you. It isn't. The figure is accurate, but it rests on 36 closed sales. The number worth building an offer around is the 12-month figure, and the reason Hudson stays competitive has less to do with prices than with what is and isn't being built.
The short version is this. The August spike is mostly a sample-size effect. Hudson's real pressure comes from a thin supply of resale homes. The new homes approved around Hudson in 2026 won't ease that pressure soon, because most of them are 2-acre town lots, five- and eleven-home infill projects, or a 55-plus rental building that doesn't open until 2027.
The NorthstarMLS Local Market Update for the City of Hudson puts August 2026 next to August 2025, and its rolling 12-month columns next to the prior year's.
| City of Hudson | Aug 2025 | Aug 2026 | Change | Rolling 12 mo. 2025 | Rolling 12 mo. 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median sales price | $465,000 | $589,146 | +26.7% | $468,000 | $502,000 | +7.3% |
| Price per square foot | $229 | $253 | +10.8% | $224 | $241 | +7.3% |
| Closed sales | 33 | 36 | +9.1% | 312 | 343 | +9.9% |
| Days on market until sale | 53 | 53 | 0.0% | 57 | 61 | +7.0% |
| Percent of original list price received | 99.2% | 99.9% | +0.7% | 99.2% | 98.6% | -0.6% |
When only 36 homes close in a month, a few larger or newer houses can move the median a long way. The report says as much in its own footnote, noting that "activity for one month can sometimes look extreme due to small sample size." Over 343 sales across 12 months, the median rose 7.3%, and price per square foot rose the same 7.3%. When the median and the price per square foot climb at the same rate over a full year, that's a good sign the increase reflects values rather than a shift in which homes happened to sell.
The 12-month columns also show a market that's a little slower than August suggests. Over the past year, homes took 61 days on average to sell, up from 57, and sellers received 98.6% of their original list price, down from 99.2%. That's a steady market with room to negotiate on some listings. It isn't a runaway one.
This matters at the offer table. An appraiser values a Hudson home against recent comparable sales, not against a citywide median. A buyer who stretches because "prices are up 26%" is reacting to a number the appraisal will never use.
What did change sharply is supply. In August 2026 Hudson had 80 homes for sale, down from 93 a year earlier. Months of supply fell from 3.5 to 2.6. New listings for the month rose to 45 from 34, and over 12 months to 438 from 408, but closed sales grew about as fast, so the extra listings were absorbed instead of piling up.
The wider county shows the same squeeze, only milder. The Wisconsin REALTORS Association reported a St. Croix County median of $417,400 for August 2026, up 7.1%. Sales fell 11.1% to 96, and supply dropped to 4.2 months from 5.1. August is the most recent month WRA has published as of early October. So the city has less than three months of supply while the county has more than four, and the city's 12-month median sits well above the county's August figure. Hudson proper is the tighter corner of a market that is easing more slowly everywhere around it.
Supply like that won't loosen unless new homes show up. That brings the story to what Hudson approved this year.
On paper, Hudson's 2026 approvals add up to a busy year. Look at each project and a pattern shows up.
Kinsley Ridge, Town of Hudson. This is the largest for-sale project. Twin Cities Land Development submitted a 199.7-acre final plat for land in the Town of Hudson. It splits six parcels into 35 single-family lots, one lot of about 39 acres, and an 82.7-acre parcel set aside for Phase II. The site sits north of Blue Jay Lane, east of Oriole Lane, west of North Meadow Drive and south of Badlands Road.
Casanova Point, City of Hudson. In May, the Plan Commission unanimously approved the preliminary plat and concept plans for a five-home cluster at 739 Eleventh Street by Inspiration Point LLP. Final plat and development-plan approvals from the Plan Commission and Common Council are still required.
Park Place Village South, City of Hudson. This proposal for 11 single-family lots on 4.44 acres by Divine Custom Homes, with access from Simply Living Lane, goes to the Plan Commission on October 6. Its final approvals are still to come.
Linden House, City of Hudson. The Doran Group began building this 128-unit, 55-plus project at 209 Annabelle Way in May 2026, financed with a $26 million construction loan from Veridian Credit Union. The Hudson Star-Observer reported that leasing is expected to start in late 2026, with residents arriving in late 2027.
Add it up. The biggest unit count is a rental building limited to residents 55 and older. Inside city limits, the new for-sale homes approved or proposed total 16, in two small projects. Nearly all the for-sale lots are outside the city, at Kinsley Ridge.
The oddest line in the Kinsley Ridge plat is Lot 1, at 38.937 acres. City staff explained why it exists. It's set aside so the subdivision meets the Town of Hudson's average minimum lot size of 2.5 acres. It could be split into two lots someday, but nobody has proposed that. The Town's Plan Commission added that Lot 1 will carry a deed restriction against further subdivision and will be kept by the Kinney family, the landowners.
That rule shapes the product. The 35 buildable lots run between 1.995 and 2.670 acres. The rule averages lot size across the whole plat, so one very large parcel offsets lots slightly below 2.5 acres. Even so, every home here sits on about two acres. The town's minimum-lot math means the new for-sale supply around Hudson will be large-lot homes, and there won't be many of them per acre of land.
The approval path is unusual too. Because the land lies within three miles of Hudson's boundary, it falls inside the City's extraterritorial zone and needs City review even though it's in the Town. The Hudson Common Council approved the final plat on August 17, 2026, as part of its consent agenda. One condition was renaming the proposed Hawthorn Court and Hazel Place, because those names were too close to existing city streets. On the Town side, the Town Board held a special meeting on September 23. The meeting video shows a 4-0 roll call vote on a motion to recommend approval of the final plat and a special exception for residential homes in the agricultural-residential district. The motion carried conditions, including a developer's agreement and the filing of a conservation easement. Written minutes for that meeting haven't been posted yet.
Even with approvals in hand, the timeline runs long. The Town's engineer described about 8,905 feet of new town road. Construction will be phased and weather-dependent, with the footage split between 2026 and 2027. Stormwater basins will be maintained by an HOA. Creative Homes, the builder marketing Kinsley Ridge, is taking Priority List registrations, but it hasn't published a lot-release or construction date.
Line up the dates and the gap is clear. Roads go in through 2027. Linden House residents arrive in late 2027. Casanova Point still needs final approvals, and Park Place Village South hasn't had its first review. For the next year or so, a buyer shopping in Hudson is competing for the roughly 80 resale homes on the market, not for new construction.
North Hudson is the remaining question. Developer Bruce Lenzen has proposed housing on Railroad Properties LLC land near the St. Croix River and Lake Mallalieu. On August 24, Judge Scott Needham dismissed a residents' lawsuit over the Village's comprehensive plan and rezoning, finding the plaintiffs lacked standing, and vacated the temporary injunction that had frozen village approvals. The Star-Observer's coverage doesn't give a unit count or construction schedule, and the Village said only that it will "continue to evaluate planning efforts." For now, it's a project that can move forward again, with no date attached.
Is Hudson's median price really up 26.7%? For August 2026 alone, yes, based on 36 sales. Over the 12 months through August 2026, the median rose 7.3%, and price per square foot rose the same amount.
Is Kinsley Ridge in the City of Hudson? No. It's in the Town of Hudson. Because it lies inside the City's extraterritorial zone, the Hudson Common Council reviewed and approved its final plat.
When will Kinsley Ridge homes be available? No date has been published. Road construction is planned across 2026 and 2027, and the builder is collecting Priority List sign-ups.
Can the North Hudson Railroad Properties project move forward now? The injunction was lifted on August 24, so the Village can act on approvals again. No unit count or schedule has been reported.
A one-month median is easy to quote and easy to misread, and an appraiser won't use it. If you're weighing a Hudson home against what's coming down the pipeline, Samuel Boatman can pull the comparable sales that actually apply to the house you're looking at. If you own in Hudson now, get your free home valuation and see where your home stands against this year's resale market.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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