Your monthly guide to rental conditions in NoVA. This is our June 2026 report, covering May 2026 rental data: what rents looked like last month, what's driving the market, and what it means if you own a rental home.
NoVA Rental Market Snapshot — May 2026
Here's where NoVA rents stand as of May 2026, across all property types — apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.
NoVA median rent sits at $2,752 in May 2026, down 2.84% year-over-year as federal job cuts and private-sector spillover keep demand softer than the market expected heading into spring. Homes are averaging 35 days on market, so if you're listing now during peak season and still waiting, pricing is likely the issue.
| Metric | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Median Rent (All Types, NoVA) | $2,752 | -0.1% MoM |
| Avg. Days on Market | 35 days | — |
| Rent Growth YoY | -2.8% | — |
Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all rental property types, May 2026.
What's Driving NoVA Rental Market Conditions Right Now
NoVA Rental Supply and New Construction
New construction across NoVA is slowing down, and that matters for every rental type from apartments to townhomes to single-family homes. Virginia had roughly 19,320 multifamily units under construction in Q4 2025, down 8% year-over-year, and residential building permits statewide fell more than 10% in 2025 as rising rates and material costs choked off new starts. Loudoun County is the one exception to watch, with large planned deliveries still coming to Ashburn, Loudoun Station, and One Loudoun, plus Arlington's One Rosslyn project adding 845 apartments across three high-rises once complete, so landlords in those submarkets face more near-term competition than owners in tighter core areas like Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax.
Why People Rent in NoVA
NoVA's rental demand runs on a few durable engines: Amazon HQ2 at National Landing, the Pentagon, Fort Belvoir, and a sprawling federal contractor ecosystem that keeps relocating workers flowing into the region year after year. At 6.53%, mortgage rates continue to make buying painful for most households, which pushes would-be buyers into rentals longer than they'd planned, especially families in high-demand school zones like Gainesville's Patriot and Battlefield feeders along I-66 or Springfield/Burke near Fort Belvoir. Spring is also NoVA's most competitive leasing window, shaped by school calendars and federal fiscal cycles, so demand peaks hard from March through May as families and federal workers lock in housing before the summer move season.
What This Means for NoVA Landlords
Get your unit on market now if it's vacant. You're already in the spring peak window, and listings that hit in April and May lease faster and at stronger rents than anything sitting on the market into summer. The 35-day average days on market and a -2.84% year-over-year rent dip suggest this is a price-right market, not a set-it-high-and-wait market, so sharpen your asking rent against current comps rather than last year's numbers.
NoVA Rent by City — May 2026
Fairfax leads NoVA in leasing speed at just 23 days on market, with Leesburg and Alexandria close behind at 27 and 29 days, signaling that demand remains strongest in the western and inner suburbs. Arlington sits at the other end of the table at 49 days, and its -1.0% month-over-month rent movement suggests landlords there are making concessions to stay competitive. Across the market, most cities are leasing within a month, making Arlington the clear outlier in an otherwise active spring season.
| City | Median Rent | 2BR Median | 3BR Median | Avg. DOM | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria, VA | $2,761 | $2,697 | $3,717 | 29 days | -0.4% |
| Arlington, VA | $2,500 | $3,512 | $4,533 | 49 days | -1.0% |
| Leesburg, VA | $2,825 | $2,350 | $3,100 | 27 days | +0.8% |
| Manassas, VA | $2,738 | $2,022 | $2,800 | 41 days | +0.0% |
| Fredericksburg, VA | $1,889 | $1,750 | $2,550 | 40 days | -0.5% |
| Herndon, VA | $2,700 | $2,300 | $2,995 | 36 days | +0.0% |
| Fairfax, VA | $3,850 | $2,678 | $3,400 | 23 days | +0.0% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all property types, May 2026. Median Rent is across all property types. |
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Alexandria, VA: Old Town's walkable King Street corridor and Potomac waterfront give Alexandria a distinct draw for renters who want urban amenity without D.C. prices. At $2,761 median rent and 29 days on market, homes here lease quickly, and rents are essentially flat month-over-month (down 0.4%) with virtually no year-over-year movement, signaling a stable market that hasn't seen the sharper softening visible in other NoVA cities.
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Arlington, VA: Amazon HQ2 at National Landing, the Pentagon, and Metro-connected corridors like Clarendon, Ballston, and Rosslyn create a demand floor that keeps Arlington NoVA's most liquid rental market, but at 49 days on market and a 4.7% year-over-year rent decline to $2,500, even that demand floor has started to show cracks under federal employment pressure.
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Leesburg, VA: At $2,825 median rent and only 27 days on market, Leesburg is one of the fastest-leasing cities in NoVA right now, yet the 10.4% year-over-year decline is the steepest drop in this table, pointing to a market that is moving inventory quickly at meaningfully lower rents than a year ago.
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Manassas, VA: Rents held flat month-over-month at $2,738, and the 4.8% year-over-year gain makes Manassas one of the few cities in this table still posting positive annual rent growth. At 41 days on market, leasing pace is moderate, but the rent trajectory stands out when most of NoVA is trending the other direction.
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Fredericksburg, VA: At $1,889, Fredericksburg is the most affordable market on this list by a wide margin, which matters for renters priced out of closer-in suburbs. That said, rents are down 5.5% year-over-year and sitting at 40 days on market, so owners here face both softening prices and a slower leasing pace than the NoVA average.
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Herndon, VA: Rents were flat month-over-month at $2,700, but the 6.9% year-over-year decline is a meaningful reset from where Herndon was pricing a year ago. At 36 days on market, homes are moving at a pace close to the metro midpoint, so inventory isn't piling up, but owners shouldn't expect rents to recover quickly given the broader federal employment headwinds in the corridor.
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Fairfax, VA: The Mosaic District in Merrifield draws millennials and young professionals with walkable retail and modern housing stock, anchoring demand for higher-end units. Fairfax posts the highest median rent in this table at $3,850 and the fastest leasing pace at 23 days on market, and with rents up 3.4% year-over-year and flat month-over-month, it's holding its value better than any other city tracked here.
NoVA Rent by Bedroom Count and Property Type — May 2026
Rent by Bedroom Count in NoVA
Three-bedroom homes in NoVA rent for a median of $3,299 per month, with rents across all bedroom counts spanning from $1,734 for studios up to $3,971 for four-bedrooms (a $2,237 spread). The largest single step-up in the table is the $826 jump from a two-bedroom ($2,473) to a three-bedroom ($3,299), pointing to concentrated demand pressure on family-sized layouts. Adding a fourth bedroom adds another $672 on top of that, so landlords with larger homes can still command a meaningful premium if they price correctly.
| Bedroom Count in NoVA | Median Rent (May 2026) |
|---|---|
| Studio | $1,734 |
| 1-Bedroom | $1,875 |
| 2-Bedroom | $2,473 |
| 3-Bedroom | $3,299 |
| 4-Bedroom | $3,971 |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings across all property types, NoVA, May 2026. |
Rent by Property Type in NoVA
Single-family homes lead NoVA at a $3,496 median rent, a $745 premium (27.1%) above the $2,752 blended median. Townhouses hold the middle ground at $3,272, while condos and apartments fall below the blended median by 17.6% and 25.9%, respectively. Speed tracks closely with price: single-family homes lease in 25 days versus 35 days for the blended metro, while apartments sit at 67 days. If you own a single-family rental, you're working with the strongest combination of rent and velocity in the market right now.
| Property Type in NoVA | Median Rent | Avg. Days on Market | MoM Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Property Types (Blended) | $2,752 | 35 days | -0.1% |
| Single Family | $3,496 | 25 days | +0.1% |
| Condo | $2,267 | 30 days | -0.3% |
| Townhouse | $3,272 | 34 days | +0.5% |
| Apartment | $2,039 | 67 days | +0.2% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, NoVA, May 2026. |
Data Sources & Methodology
- Rental market data: Median rents, days on market, listing counts, and rent change figures. Sourced from county public records, deed and tax assessor data, and rental listings on publicly accessible platforms.
- Doorstead Platform Data: Internal leasing outcomes from Doorstead-managed rental homes across all property types, including days to lease. Trailing 12 months.
Data refreshed monthly. Doorstead benchmarks reflect managed properties only and may not be representative of the broader NoVA rental market.