Year-over-year apartment rents continue to trend upward in Northern Virginia, even as fears of economic upheaval loom.
The growth also comes despite a national year-over-year decline in median apartment rental prices.
Rents in Tysons led eight sub-sectors of Fairfax County in March, according to new data reported by Apartment List.The median apartment rental price of $2,651 for the month in Tysons was up 4.2% from a year before, compared to a D.C.-area-wide increase of 3.3% to $2,188.
Apartment rental rates across specific areas of Fairfax County:
- Annandale: Median rental costs in March were $1,945 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,220 for two bedrooms, up 9.7% year-over-year
- Centreville: Median costs were $2,064/$2,397, up 2.7%
- Fair Oaks: Median costs were $2,235/$2,499, up 3%
- Fairfax: Median costs were $1,944/$2,225, up 4.4%
- Herndon: Median costs were $1,842/$2,210, up 5.1%
- Merrifield: Median costs were $2,329/$2,863, up 5.5%
- Reston: Median costs were $2,157/$2,284, up 2.2%
- Tysons: Median costs were $2,410/$2,890, up 4.2%
Nationally, the median apartment rental cost in March stood at $1,384 — $1,216 for one-bedroom units and $1,370 for two bedrooms. The national rate was down 0.4% from March 2024.
The downward trend nationally in median rental prices has been fueled, in part, by increasing supply as new units come online in certain markets. That factor also has pushed vacancy rates up and extended the length of time required for landlords to fill vacant units.
That trend downward be about to change, as year-over-year results are “slowly inching back toward positive territory,” Apartment List analysts said in a national update released March 27:
“On a year-over-year basis, rent growth is now positive for a majority of large cities (59 of the top 100). Our national index remains negative largely due to steeper declines in a concentrated set of Sun Belt metros that are rapidly expanding their multifamily inventory; these include Austin (-6.3% year-over-year), Denver (-5%) and Raleigh (-2.9%).”
Despite the national cooldown since late 2022, the typical rent price remains 20% higher than its January 2021 level, according to the report.
