With prices sky-high in Manhattan and Brooklyn, is it time to move to the unspoilt Hudson Valley?.

Sooner or later, even the most juiced-up New Yorker starts to feel sick of city life. A traditional family man might glance towards the picket fences of Connecticut, or dream of the view from a Long Island beach house. But with the Hamptons awash in glitz and the predictable suburbs uninspiring, a new generation of city refugees is heading north in search of the perfect home, be it a first or second one.

Take note: the action isn’t in established upstate enclaves. Woodstock’s expensive-granola groove is too deep, Millbrook’s horse-country traditions too entrenched at this point to be truly reinvented. Hence the hotness of undervalued Hudson River towns and neglected rural redoubts, which have had an influx of full-time and part-time urban refugees of late and have undergone a dose of creative reconstruction.

It’s not just the promise of a better quality of life drawing jaded New Yorkers beyond the five boroughs; the relative affordability of upstate living has been tantalising them for decades. With the median value of a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s West Village now comfortably north of $1m and a single-family house in Bushwick, Brooklyn, costing about the same, more and more are expected to head upstate.

Care to join the migration? Here’s a look at five of the most exciting northerly locales to buy in now.

Though its early heady days as an 18th-century whaling hub are long gone, historic Hudson (population 7,000) has spent the past couple of decades in the vanguard of upstate revival. Decrepit Queen Anne townhouses have been restored and contemporary galleries have joined the upscale antique shops lining the main drag of Warren Street. The Chelsea and Brooklyn art worlds in particular have a strong presence here. Fish & Game’s top-notch farm-to-table and the high-profile music acts at Basilica Hudson enliven the weekend social scene, and the two-hour Amtrak journey from Grand Central (with a train station right in town) makes this an easy sell to house guests. Chances are, they’ll even know a few of your neighbours.

**Average house price: **$136,200*.The dream house: a four-bedroom restored carriage house that’s walking distance from Warren Street – expect to pay in the region of $400,000 to $450,000.

Just south of the Catskill mountains, the “triangle” comprising Accord, Stone Ridge and High Falls (shall we predict a TriBeCa-style portmanteau?) has gone from unknown entity to open secret among chic city types. “As of last year, people have started saying they know about Accord – the buzz is pretty staggering,” reports designer and Freemans Sporting Club co-founder Mr Taavo Somer, who’s had a place on 30 acres there for nearly a decade. Scene-changers include Stone Ridge’s Hasbrouck House, an old hotel that reopened this year after being made over by a Brooklyn group, and Accord’s Westwind Orchard, where fashion photographer Mr Fabio Chizzola and his wife cater to the flow of chic weekenders with homemade cider and wood-fired pizza.

Average house price: $241,000*.

The dream house: an exposed-beam stone colonial with a saltwater pool – yours for $600,000 to $650,000.

About 20 minutes east of Hudson, the rolling hills of this rural hamlet sprout discreet country dwellings and serve as a gateway of sorts to a tiny and cultured corner of the Berkshires. (Tanglewood, the galleried summer-concert venue, is half an hour away.) There’s a slim chance you might bump into Mr John Varvatos driving to his place on Lake Copake, or J.Crew menswear designer Mr Frank Muytjens buying compost for his tulips. But it’s unlikely. The forested environs and distance from transport hubs make Hillsdale more secluded than Dutchess County further south, where the rural-chic options are more expensive – and more abundant. The town’s relatively low housing stock is likely to keep Hillsdale low-key for years to come.

**Average house price: $330,000*.

The dream house: **a contemporary farmhouse on a woodland lot with a long private driveway and a flower garden for about $1,100,000 – the asking price of that one-bed apartment in the West Village.

A gem for the undecided, Cold Spring works as both an upstate weekend getaway, complete with hiking and kayaking, and a feasible daily commute (Grand Central is 80 minutes away by train). It’s a fraction of the size of Beacon, one station north, and what grit it shares with that resurgent river town is largely decorative. “We’re more casual than Millbrook and have better schools than Hudson. Cold Spring is kind of like a small Westchester town surrounded by high-end rural housing,” says resident Mr Kevin Burke, who’s been providing new homeowners with custom furniture and lambswool pillows from his shop, Burkelman, one of a handful of elevated boutiques that’s popped up on the town’s all-American main street in the past few years (a sure sign of a neighbourhood on the move).

Average house price: $452,100*.**

The dream house: **a midcentury fixer-upper that’s a short bike ride from the village, which should come in at just over $500,000.

A limited train service west of the Hudson has helped keep Catskills prices down, especially in more remote towns such as this one, where the main street is sprinkled with homespun bakeries and cafés. Residents consider Andes to be one point of a folky-hip triangle that also includes Delhi (rhymes with “sell by”) and Bovina. “For the price of five acres down by Accord you can get 20-plus up there,” says Mr Quetzal Saunders, a model and builder, who has renovated several houses upstate since first acquiring property near New Paltz 10 years ago. “Andes is in a really beautiful area, and I think because more people – architects, fashion designers – are up there full time, they’re actually hanging out together, rather than just looking for quiet time on the weekend.”

Average house price: $149,000*.**

The dream house: **a converted barn on a 30-acre spread with mountain views, which will set you back about $350,000.

*Figures based on the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)