County leaders appear optimistic that plans for an Arlington boathouse on the Potomac River will stay on track to open by the end of the decade.
“I think we’re through the hardest parts,” County Board member Susan Cunningham said at the April 14 meeting of the Park and Recreation Commission, where the topic was discussed.
County Board members are closing in on a decision about whether parts of the Nelly Custis School should receive historic designations.
Board members are slated to take their first procedural step toward a future decision on the 1.7-acre property tomorrow (Wednesday). They are likely to adopt an initiating resolution for consideration of the historic district proposed by a local resident and recommended by the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB).
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…)
Polls Open Today — Virginia’s special election is today, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters must go to their assigned polling place. On the ballot: a proposed state constitutional amendment that would temporarily allow the General Assembly to redraw congressional districts. Arlington Public Schools is off today due to the election. [Arlington Elections/X, Arlington County]
Amazon Behind on HQ2 Jobs — Amazon’s HQ2 in Pentagon City is falling short of its promised job targets for a third straight year. By the end of 2025, the company should have added 11,643 jobs under its state incentive agreement; instead it has created 7,159, or 28.6% of its 25,000-job goal by 2038. [Washington Post]
Defense Powers Office Market — Defense contractors drove N. Va.’s office leasing market in the first quarter, accounting for 85.2% of the largest deals, per JLL. Trophy vacancy fell to 13.9% as Lockheed Martin renewed its 176,127-square-foot lease at 2121 Crystal Drive in Crystal City — the quarter’s biggest deal. [WBJ]
Beyer Vows Kennedy Center Fight — Rep. Don Beyer (D) vowed to fight changes at the Kennedy Center, calling them “a disturbing extension of this Administration’s pay-to-play corruption.” Beyer was responding to a new Atlantic article on the institution’s ongoing leadership drama. [Rep. Don Beyer/X]
Sen. Warner Mourns Daughter — Sen. Mark Warner (D) and his wife Lisa Collis announced yesterday that their daughter Madison Warner, 36, has died after decades of battling juvenile diabetes and other health issues. “She filled our lives with love and laughter,” the family said. [ALXnow]
Tick Season Returns — As temperatures rise, tick activity is picking up across Virginia. State health officials say ticks can spread Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Alpha-gal Syndrome, and are urging Virginians to use EPA-registered insect repellents and check themselves after spending time outdoors. [VDH]
It’s Tuesday — Expect widespread frost before 10 am, followed by sunny weather with a high near 62°F. Winds will be calm, shifting to the south at about 6 mph in the afternoon. On Tuesday night, there is a 30% chance of showers after 2 am, with partly cloudy skies and a low around 50°F. South winds will increase to 7 to 9 mph. [NWS]
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Flickr pool photo by Jason Gooljar
Good Monday 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 — Apr 20, 2026.
Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect widespread frost before 10 am, followed by sunny weather with a high near 62°F. Winds will be calm, shifting to the south at about 6 mph in the afternoon. On Tuesday night, there is a 30% chance of showers after 2 am, with partly cloudy skies and a low around 50°F. South winds will increase to 7 to 9 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
Thanks for reading! If you have something to say about an issue of local note not covered today, feel free to post it as a letter to the editor on our new forum.
Join the Rosslyn BID and Arlington Arts at the 34th Rosslyn Jazz Fest 2026 featuring live jazz, food trucks, local vendors, and family-friendly activities in the heart of Rosslyn! This year’s lineup is bringing a diverse mix of performers and bands redefining the jazz music genre including Plena Libre, Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars, Parlor Greens, and Dogo du Togo & the Alagaa Beat Band.
Green Valley’s newest art space is preparing to open to the public with a outdoor market featuring creative activities and artwork for sale.
The 2700 Art Space project, located at the site of former Inner Ear recording studio next to Jennie Dean Park, will kick off its first official programming on Sunday, May 3 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Called SPARK!, the first monthly art market will include artwork from local artists — including prints and ceramics from The Studios at Arlington Arts — plus the mobile bookstore The Wandering Shelf, a pop-up poetry booth from The Poet is IN and the popular “Patch or Swap” booth where visitors can mend old clothes or trade them in.
A 34-year-old Arlington man is behind bars and facing numerous charges after police say he injured half a dozen officers and a police dog.
Oleh Mashkin entered a condo building on Columbia Pike around 6 p.m. Friday, shoved someone out of an elevator, and then kicked down the door of an unoccupied apartment, according to Arlington County police.
There aren’t any candidates on the ballot in Virginia’s statewide special election on Tuesday (April 21), but the contest could still decide control of the closely divided U.S. House this fall.
Voters in the Commonwealth will consider a ballot measure that would amend Virginia’s constitution to give the Democratic-majority General Assembly temporary power to redraw the state’s congressional districts. It’s the latest move in an escalating redistricting arms race that began in July 2025, when Texas Republican lawmakers redrew their state’s congressional map to favor Republicans at President Donald Trump’s urging.
Another season of live jazz music is returning to Metropolitan Park in a few weeks.
The annual Jazz @ Met concert series, now in its fourth year, starts back up on Thursday, May 7 and will continue through June 18 at 1330 S. Fair Street.
While County Board members have agreed to save gymnastics programming, advocates now fear that a proposed hike in participation fees may still make the programs inaccessible for many families.
At last week’s budget-markup session, Board members settled on a proposal that would increase participation fees for the Arlington Aerials and Arlington Tigers gymnastics programs 44% in the coming year.
