A grim anniversary quietly passed last month: four years since the still-unsolved murder of Scott Ratigan.
The 24-year-old was found dead with “trauma to the upper body” in his Ballston apartment in January 2020. The 911 caller reported a strong smell of bleach in the apartment, according to scanner traffic at the time.
(Updated at 12:35 p.m.) Even in the era of Missing Middle, some duplex projects in Arlington have to go to the Arlington County Board for approval.
A proposal to build two side-by-side homes for sale at 1129 N. Utah Street, a few blocks from the Ballston Metro station and Washington-Liberty High School, is one such project.
This regularly scheduled column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].
Question: How has the Arlington single-family home market performed in the first half of 2026?
Answer: Arlington’s single-family detached (SFD) market got busier and more competitive in the first half of 2026, yet prices increased at their slowest pace since 2023.
More Competition, Modest Appreciation (Resale Market)
Note: this data is for resales of single-family detached (SFD) homes; I have a separate analysis of the new construction market further down.
Dig Deeper: Performance Varied by Size, Price Point
The appreciation gap between the average price (3.5%) and median price (1.9%) matters. The average is more sensitive to expensive sales. In 2026, 15.7% of closed resales sold for $2M or more, up from 12.7% in 2025. At the other end of the market, only 21.7% sold below $1M, down from 24.4%. That shift toward higher-priced homes helped lift the average faster than the median.
Average and median prices are useful, but neither tells us whether gains were shared evenly across the market. To test that, I divided the closed resale market into four sold-price quartiles for each year. Each quartile represents one-fourth of that year’s sales, from the least expensive 25% to the most expensive 25%. (more…)
Blinken Protest Questioned — “Antony Blinken’s children were on their way home, so the protesters knew it was time to uncork the fake blood. The group had been camped outside the Secretary of State’s home near the Potomac for a couple weeks, the latest example in the fraught trend of protests at the homes of Washington officials… As the car carrying the kids rolled up, the group took their places. Some shouted: ‘YOUR FATHER IS A BABY KILLER!'” [Politico]
Local Fundraiser May End — “The progressive disease could eventually mean Malone will have to use a wheelchair, but more immediately he was concerned that its painful effects would render him unable to stand for the long periods he needs to raise money. He told friends before this year’s event that he might not be able to do it again. After raising about $100,000 over the years, this might be his last stand.” [Washington Post]
Girls, boys squads each sparked by winning one relay race
The Wakefield Warriors continued their strong post-season in high-school track and field competition with runner-up finishes in the girls and boys 6D North Region championship meets.
Live standup comedy in Arlington on Friday July 31 starring Jim Bryan, Kim Villamera, and Greg Billet.
Friday, July 31, 2026
Good Friday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Feb 16, 2024.
After moving from one temporary location to another on Columbia Pike, The Black Heritage Museum of Arlington has settled into its new digs — for now.
The museum is currently located on the first floor of the Ethiopian Community Development Council building (3045B Columbia Pike), but it has bounced around the Pike ever since it transitioned from an online museum to a physical location in 2018.
Development plans for St. Charles Catholic Church in Clarendon have descended into planning purgatory.
The brick church, which occupies a large piece of land near Northside Social and George Mason University’s Arlington campus, has assembled plans to redevelop the property with a new church building and parish center, affordable housing and underground parking.
Monday is the federal holiday best known as Presidents Day, though here in Virginia it’s officially George Washington Day.
The holiday celebrating the first president’s birthday is prompting a number of local closures in Arlington.
(Updated at 12:10 p.m.) Arlington is under a Winter Weather Advisory starting tonight.
Between 2-5 inches of snow is expected to fall, mostly overnight Friday into Saturday. The snow should be mostly done by sunrise, according to the Capital Weather Gang.
