The Arlington real estate market saw a combination of more sales and higher average prices in May — pushing the sold dollar volume up by 21% year over year.
A total of 263 properties changed hands during the month, up 16% from 226 a year before, according to figures reported June 10 by MarketStats by ShowingTime, based on data from Bright MLS.
The average sales price of all homes going to closing during the month countywide was $996,897, not quite an all-time record but up 4.8% from $951,072 a year before.
All three segments of the market showed year-over-year increases:
- The average sales price of single-family homes was $1,526,051, up 2.9%
- The average sales price of attached homes — townhouses, rowhouses and condominiums — was $628,196, up 3.7%
- The average sales price in the condo-only segment was $540,373, up 3.5%
Add up the sales and prices, and total volume for May was $259.3 million, up from $213.7 million in 2025.
On a per-square-foot basis, the average cost of $518 in May countywide was up from $511 a year ago and running above the year-to-date average of $512.
For May, homes that went to closing had spent an average 18 days on the market, down slightly from 20 a year before, and garnered 100.3% of listing price, up from 99.6%.
Pending sales at month’s end totaled 256, essentially unchanged from 255 a year before. The number of listings on the Arlington market at the end of the month (446) also was virtually unchanged from a year before (445).
Across the D.C. area, May’s overall median sales price of $680,000 was an all-time high, as was the median single-family sales price of $900,000.
“The Washington D.C. metro area is a tale of two markets,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist for Bright MLS, the region’s multiple-listing service.
She elaborated:
“Higher-income buyers are putting upward pressure on the single-family market, as inventory remains low and prices continue to rise. There are fewer first-time and moderate-income buyers. Buyers who are in the market will have more leverage in the townhome and condo markets, where inventory is expanding.”
Despite a drop in new inventory, buyers were highly active in the D.C. metro area, with closed sales surging 8.7% year-over-year to 5,207.
Homes across the metro area sold at a “very fast” median pace of 8 days in May, unchanged from a year ago.
Figures represent most, but not all, homes on the market. All May 2026 figures are preliminary and subject to revision.
