Fairfax County’s median apartment rental rate dipped 2.3% year-over-year in March, as most major corridors of the county posted declines.
The median apartment rate of $2,359 for the month countywide dropped from $2,414 in March 2025, according to data reported March 30 by Apartment List.
The median rental rate for a one-bedroom unit across the county was $2,022. For two-bedroom units, it was $2,342.
While down from a year ago, rents across Fairfax are up by more than $500 a month from the start of 2021, when the market bottomed out at around $1,820 during Covid. Pre-Covid, median rents had peaked at about $2,000 monthly in mid-2019.
In March, year-over-year declines were reported in six of seven area of the county tracked by Apartment List:
- Annandale: Median apartment rents stood at $1,916 for one-bedroom units, $2,186 for two bedrooms, with an overall drop of 2.1%
- Centreville: Rents were $2,076/$2,412, up 0.2%
- Fair Oaks: Rents were $2,187/$2,444, down 2.3%
- Fairfax: Rents were $1,901/$2,175, down 2.3%
- Herndon: Rents were $1,795/$2,154, down 2.3%
- Reston: Rents were $2,146/$2,272, down 0.7%
- Tysons: Rents were $2,329/$2,792, down 3%
In neighboring jurisdictions, the median apartment rent in Alexandria was $2,219, down 2.7% year-over-year. In Arlington, it was $2,585, down 1.7%
The D.C. region’s overall median rent for the month was $2,137.
Demand softening nationally
The region faces many of the same headwinds as other areas of the nation, Apartment List analysts said.
“A shaky labor market, renewed inflation concerns, and overall macroeconomic uncertainty are taking a toll on demand,” they noted.
In Apartment List’s monthly ranking of 100 urban areas, the four most expensive localities were all in California: San Francisco ($3,262), Irvine ($3,056), San Jose ($2,916) and Fremont ($2,797). Arlington ranked fifth.
On the other end of the spectrum, the least expensive median rental rate for the month was $868, turned in by Toledo. Rounding out the top five lowest were Wichita and Cleveland (each $1,018), Tucson ($1,021) and Detroit ($1,036).
The national median rent has now fallen from its 2022 peak by a total of 5.5%. In March, it stood at $1,363, down 1.7% year-over-year.
“The rental market has begun to turn the corner into the busier spring leasing season, but multifamily conditions remain soft,” Apartment List analysts said.
Median rents were down year-over-year in 36 of the 52 metro areas with populations of more than a million, according to Apartment List analysts:
“Rent trends vary significantly by region, with annual declines currently concentrated primarily in the South and Mountain West regions. Meanwhile, many markets in the Northeast, Midwest and parts of the West Coast continue to see prices trend up despite the winter slowdown.”
“As a result of all this new inventory, more vacant units are sitting on the market, meaning that property owners face more competition for renters and have less pricing leverage. “
The Austin metro continues to have the softest conditions among the nation’s large rental markets, with the median rent there down by 6% over the past year. The Virginia Beach metro now sits atop the ranking of fastest year-over-year rent growth, at 5.5%.
Units are taking an average of 38 days to get leased after being listed, five days longer a year before and more than twice as long as it took units to turn over when the market was at its hottest in mid-2021.
Alternate survey shows similar results
Nationally, the median one-bedroom apartment rent of $1,502 in March was down 1.4% year-over-year, with the median two-bedroom rent down 1.3% to $1,880 in survey data released by Zumper.
Median rents for one-bedroom units in the five most expensive localities were $4,380 in New York City; $3,790 in San Francisco; $3,190 in Jersey City; $3,020 in Boston; and $2,660 in San Jose. Just outside the top five were Miami and Arlington.
Both apartment sizes showed month-over-month increases, rising 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
Though modest, “this marks the first time both bedroom types have posted monthly gains since May 2025, pointing to a return to more typical seasonal patterns after an unusually soft summer and fall,” Zumper analysts said.
According to Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy:
“While rents are still down year-over-year, the pace of those declines is clearly slowing, and early signs of spring demand are beginning to push prices upward again. As we head into peak leasing season, we expect competition to pick up, particularly in markets that have already absorbed a significant wave of new supply and are beginning to rebalance.”
Some of the biggest year-over-year declines in the Zumper survey came in Florida, where rents had increased significantly during the immediate post-Covid period.
“All Florida markets in our report had either flat or declining annual rents, as domestic migration cools in the state while supply levels remain elevated,” Zumper analysts said.
The biggest year-over-year decline in Florida localities came in Tampa, where the median rent has dropped 12.1% over the past year.
