The median rent remains down year over year in Arlington, though the local market is showing price upticks as winter transitions to spring.
The county’s median apartment rent of $2,585 in March was up 1.4% month over month, contributing to a cumulative 2.4% from the start of the year, Apartment List said in its monthly report, released earlier this week. Nevertheless, the median rental rate remains down 1.7% from a year before.
Broken down by type, median Arlington rental rates in March were $2,434 for one-bedroom units and $2,941 for two bedrooms.
In neighboring jurisdictions, the median apartment rent in Alexandria was $2,219, down 2.7% year over year. In Fairfax County, it was $2,359, down 2.3%.
The D.C. region’s overall median rent for the month was $2,137.
The region faces many of the same headwinds as other areas of the nation, Apartment List analysts said.
“A shaky labor market, renewed inflation concerns, and overall macroeconomic uncertainty are taking a toll on demand,” they noted.
In March, Arlington retained its No. 5 spot in Apartment List’s ranking of the 100 most expensive urban rental markets.
The county was the most expensive locality on the list outside of California, eclipsed only by San Francisco ($3,262), Irvine ($3,056), San Jose ($2,916) and Fremont ($2,797).
On the other end of the spectrum, the least expensive median rental rate for the month was $868 in Toledo. Rounding out the five lowest were Wichita and Cleveland (each $1,018), Tucson ($1,021) and Detroit ($1,036).
The national median rent has now fallen from its 2022 peak by a total of 5.5%. In March, it stood at $1,363, down 1.7% year over year.
“The rental market has begun to turn the corner into the busier spring leasing season, but multifamily conditions remain soft,” Apartment List analysts said.
Median rents were down year over year in 36 of the 52 metro areas with populations of more than a million, according to Apartment List analysts:
“Rent trends vary significantly by region, with annual declines currently concentrated primarily in the South and Mountain West regions. Meanwhile, many markets in the Northeast, Midwest and parts of the West Coast continue to see prices trend up despite the winter slowdown.”
“As a result of all this new inventory, more vacant units are sitting on the market, meaning that property owners face more competition for renters and have less pricing leverage. “
The Austin metro continues to have the softest conditions among the nation’s large rental markets, with the median rent down 6% over the past year. The Virginia Beach metro now sits atop the ranking of fastest year-over-year rent growth, at +5.5%.
Units are taking an average of 38 days to get leased after being listed, five days longer than a year ago — and more than twice as long as it took units to turn over when the market was at its hottest in mid-2021.
Arlington 7th most expensive in Zumper survey: In another monthly data analysis, released by Zumper, Arlington ranked as the seventh most expensive urban environment for renters.
Median rents for local one-bedroom units rose 1.7% month over month to $2,420, while the median rent for two-bedroom units rose 3.2% to $3,270.
Median rents for one-bedroom units in the six most expensive localities were $4,380 in New York City; $3,790 in San Francisco; $3,190 in Jersey City; $3,020 in Boston; $2,660 in San Jose; and $2,450 in Miami.
Nationally, the median one-bedroom apartment rent of $1,502 was down 1.4% year over year, with the median two-bedroom rent down 1.3% to $1,880 in the Zumper survey.
Both apartment sizes showed month-over-month increases, rising 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
Though modest, “this marks the first time both bedroom types have posted monthly gains since May 2025, pointing to a return to more typical seasonal patterns after an unusually soft summer and fall,” Zumper analysts said.
According to Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy:
“While rents are still down year-over-year, the pace of those declines is clearly slowing, and early signs of spring demand are beginning to push prices upward again. As we head into peak leasing season, we expect competition to pick up, particularly in markets that have already absorbed a significant wave of new supply and are beginning to rebalance.”
Some of the biggest year-over-year declines in the Zumper survey came in Florida, where rents had increased significantly during the immediate post-pandemic period.
“All Florida markets in our report had either flat or declining annual rents, as domestic migration cools in the state while supply levels remain elevated,” Zumper analysts said.
The biggest year-over-year decline in Florida localities came in Tampa, where the median rent has dropped 12.1% over the past year.
