The median rental cost for an Arlington apartment is down 0.9% year-over-year, according to new data, paralleling a slight nationwide decrease.
The county’s apartments remain among the most expensive in major urban areas outside California.
Arlington’s median rent stood at $2,450 for one-bedroom apartments, $2,961 for two-bedrooms units and $2,602 for all units in monthly data that Apartment List released on Tuesday.
The year-over-year decline of 0.9% locally was on par with the national drop of 0.8%. Across the country, the median rent stood at $1,394 in September, according to Apartment List.
“Earlier this year, it appeared that year-over-year growth was on track to flip positive for the first time since mid-2023. However, that rebound stalled out and reversed course over the summer as year-over-year growth dipped for five consecutive months,” Apartment List analysts said.
For much of the past year, Arlington has ranked fifth highest among 100 urban areas tracked by the organization in terms of median price.
Again in September, the only localities with higher rates could be found in California: Irvine at $3,097, San Francisco at $3,072, San Jose at $2,935 and Fremont at $2,977.
At the other end of the spectrum was Toledo, Ohio, which had the most affordable median rent — $877 — among the 100 urban areas.
Across the D.C. metro area, the median rental rate for September was $2,185. Among all subsections of the region tracked by Apartment List, only Ashburn ($2,660) had a higher overall median rental rate than Arlington. But that likely was due to the larger percentage of two- and three-bedroom units in Ashburn.
Nationally, the rental market is moving into its slower months in the annual cycle.
“It’s likely that rent prices nationally will continue to decline through the remainder of the year, with fewer renters looking to move as temperatures turn cooler and the holiday season approaches,” Apartment List analysts reported.
The Austin metro currently has the softest conditions among the nation’s large rental markets, with the median rent there down by 6.5% over the past year. At the other end of the spectrum, the San Francisco metro has seen the fastest year-over-year rent growth (+4.9%).
In terms of vacancy rate, Arlington’s 6.6% is up from 5% a year before but is below the national 7.1%.
“We’re past the peak of a multifamily construction surge, but a healthy supply of new units are still hitting the market, and vacancies are still trending up,” Apartment List said.
Nationally, units are taking an average of 31 days to get leased up after being listed, an increase from 30 days a year before.
Separate statistics are released on a regular basis by Rent.com, which estimates a more significant shift when it comes to declines in local rental rates.
According to data Rent.com from Sept. 29, the average rental cost for an Arlington studio rental currently stands at $1,649, down 22% year-over-year.
For one-bedroom units, the average of $1,665 is down 34%, while for two-bedroom units the $2,164 average rental rate is down 38% in the Rent.com data.
