News

As a 15-year-long project to rebuild Columbia Pike with wider sidewalks and underground utilities enters its last construction phase, county leaders say they are seeing early signs of a promising future.

On Thursday, the Columbia Pike Partnership held its third annual “State of the Pike,” during which Arlington County’s department heads delivered a comprehensive overview of the Pike’s housing market and local economy via Zoom.


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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.

  • The average and median price increased 3.5% and 1.9%, respectively
  • Over the past five years, the average and median price increased 13.9% and 11.1%, respectively
  • The average and median price of a home increased to $1.44M and $1.299M, respectively
  • Demand and competition rose to the highest levels since 2022, with 66% of homes selling within the first ten days on market and 68% of homes selling at or above the original asking price
  • The average buyer paid 1.3% more than the original asking price, compared to 2025 when the average buyer paid 0.3% less than the original asking price
  • Buyers of homes that went under contract within the first week on market paid an average of 4.7% over the asking price

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…)


News

A 40-year-old Arlington man has been charged with raping a woman in Crystal City early Thursday morning.

Police say the man started talking to a woman who was walking in the neighborhood around 2:15 a.m., before sexually and physically assaulting her in an outdoor area along 12th Street S., near Long Bridge Park.


News

Two women from D.C. are facing charges after police say they robbed a store in Ballston while pushing a child in a baby stroller.

The alleged crime happened around 11 p.m. Thursday night on the 4200 block of Fairfax Drive, across from the Metro. A 7-Eleven is the only store on that block that appears to keep late night hours.


Events

This spring, tackle cleaning out that junk drawer full of electronics or the garage with leftover paint and old lightbulbs.

Next month marks the return of Arlington County’s Environmental Collection and Recycling Event (E-CARE). On Saturday, March 23, residents can safely dispose of old electronics and household hazardous materials.


Events

Love is in the air and in National Landing.

This week and next, several events in Pentagon City and Crystal City will celebrate the day of love with specials and experiences for attendees spending the day solo or with a loved one.


Schools

Four School Board hopefuls are now jockeying for the endorsement of Arlington Democrats this May.

Kathleen Clark, Larry Fishtahler and Zuraya Tapia-Hadley launched their School Board bids during the Arlington Dems monthly meeting at Lubber Run Community Center on Wednesday night.


News

Flag Theft Suspects Are Soldiers — “Two soldiers assigned to the Army’s oldest active-duty infantry unit have been arrested on charges of stealing Pride flags from an Arlington, Va., couple’s home, according to local police… Both men are members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as The Old Guard, which serves as the Army’s premier ceremonial unit tasked with burials at Arlington National Cemetery.” [Stars and Stripes]

Road Closures for Blinken ProtestsPro-Palestinian protests are continuing outside of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s Arlington house. The protests reportedly prompted an extended closure of Chain Bridge Road yesterday. [Twitter]