A few corrections…
Monsey is 1hr and 5 min. Not 1hr and 30 min. KJ 45-50 min.
Homes can be found under 400K in some of the Frum areas and good neighborhoods. Newly built year round homes will cost more. Pre-Covid it was 200K-300K homes.
The Chassidim have figured it out. They have already a few year round communities all over Sullivan County.
The Litvaks have dropped the ball in my humble opinion. Everyone just moves to the Lakewood and surrounding areas. With that said there are very good Litvish Dorm Yeshivas besides Fallsburg in the county.
With everything I wrote above there are two major issues. Until resolved it is a tough sell for many. Jobs and schools. There are schools but it will not fit everybody’s needs. Jobs are out there in construction and healthcare related fields. White collar not really local unless you can work remote most of the time or do a nice commute.
Personally I have it made it work living up “here”. However it has not worked for everyone and people have moved out.
I always considered our “competition” the really out of town cities. I have always said the same why move to Cleveland or Detroit (and now “Lake Front”) when you can still live in an affordable place and still be close to your family in Monsey/Brooklyn/Lakewood.
The Catskills will continue to grow year-round. No question about it. The question is how quickly. Once mainstream schools are built more people will move upstate to the Catskills…