Your monthly guide to rental conditions in NoVA. This is our October 2026 report, covering September 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 — September 2026
Here's where NoVA rents landed in September 2026, across all property types — apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.
NoVA's median rent held at $2,602 in September 2026, essentially flat month-over-month (+0.24%) and down just 0.28% year-over-year, but with homes sitting on market for 43 days and the market now entering its seasonal slowdown, landlords with vacant units face a tougher leasing environment heading into fall.
| Metric | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Median Rent (All Types, NoVA) | $2,602 | -0.3% YoY |
| Avg. Days on Market | 43 days | — |
Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all rental property types, September 2026.
What's Driving NoVA Rental Market Conditions Right Now
NoVA Rental Supply and New Construction
New construction is tapering in NoVA's core corridors but hasn't stopped. Statewide multifamily completions jumped 37% year-over-year in Q2 2026, yet the total units under construction fell 3% to roughly 23,800, so the pipeline is contracting after a surge. The supply pressure is concentrated in two places: the Tysons-to-Dulles corridor along the Silver Line, where large mixed-use projects are delivering hundreds of units into a tech-worker-heavy renter base, and suburban Prince William and Loudoun Counties, where previously permitted projects are finally finishing. Inner Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax saw permits drop more than 10% in 2025, so those core submarkets remain tight by comparison.
Why People Rent in NoVA
NoVA's rental demand rests on a few durable pillars, but one has cracked. The Pentagon, Amazon HQ2 at National Landing, and the tech campuses in Loudoun and Reston still anchor the market, and with 30-year mortgage rates at 7.28%, homeownership is out of reach for most households, keeping would-be buyers in rentals. The crack is federal employment: DOGE-related cuts trimmed about 8,200 federal jobs in Northern Virginia between late 2024 and late 2025, and that's a real drag on the renter pool that was not a factor in previous cycles. School-district-driven demand in Arlington stays sticky, particularly in the Yorktown, Washington-Liberty, and Wakefield attendance zones, because families lock in leases around the Fairfax and Arlington county school calendars.
What This Means for NoVA Landlords
Price for speed right now, not margin. September marked the start of NoVA's soft season, and October through February typically sees a 40–60% drop in applicants compared to the May–August peak, with off-peak rents running 5–8% below summer highs. With the blended median rent essentially flat at -0.28% year-over-year and homes averaging 43 days on market, a vacant unit sitting into November will cost you more in lost rent than a modest price cut would.
NoVA Rent by City — September 2026
Fairfax, Manassas, and Herndon led the table in September at 37 days on market, making them the fastest-leasing cities in NoVA right now. Arlington sat at the opposite end with homes taking 47 days to lease, a full 10 days slower than the leaders, though rents there still ticked up 0.6% month-over-month. Across the metro, all seven cities landed between 37 and 47 days, a notably compressed range that reflects a market moving in lockstep as it enters the softer fall seasonal window.
| City | Median Rent | 2BR Median | 3BR Median | Avg. DOM | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria, VA | $2,590 | $2,814 | $3,846 | 40 days | +3.4% |
| Arlington, VA | $2,517 | $3,018 | $4,099 | 47 days | -4.3% |
| Leesburg, VA | $3,099 | $2,344 | $3,098 | 41 days | +3.5% |
| Manassas, VA | $2,625 | $2,077 | $2,674 | 37 days | +4.0% |
| Fredericksburg, VA | $1,800 | $1,745 | $2,475 | 39 days | -2.7% |
| Herndon, VA | $2,750 | $2,175 | $2,800 | 37 days | +4.8% |
| Fairfax, VA | $3,186 | $2,458 | $3,450 | 37 days | -3.5% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all property types, September 2026. Median Rent is across all property types. |
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Alexandria, VA: Potomac Yard's new Metro station and proximity to the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus draw high-income renters looking for urban walkability without D.C. prices. The median rent came in at $2,590 in September, down a modest 0.5% from August, though the 3.4% year-over-year gain shows the submarket held its footing better than NoVA overall heading into the slower fall window.
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Arlington, VA: Amazon HQ2 at National Landing, Pentagon proximity, and Metro corridors in Clarendon, Ballston, and Rosslyn make Arlington the region's most in-demand rental market, with families specifically targeting it for top-rated schools like Yorktown and Washington-Liberty. Despite those structural advantages, the median rent slipped to $2,517 in September, down 4.3% year-over-year, the softest annual reading among the cities in this table and a sign that the federal workforce reductions hit this market harder than the suburbs further out.
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Leesburg, VA: The median rent held at $3,099 in September, flat month-over-month and up 3.5% year-over-year, making Leesburg one of the stronger performers in this table on both measures. At 41 days on market, homes here leased a bit slower than the fastest NoVA submarkets, which is typical for higher-priced inventory as the market shifts into the fall slowdown.
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Manassas, VA: At $2,625 median rent and just 37 days on market in September, Manassas leased faster than most cities in this table despite a 1.0% month-over-month dip. The 4.0% year-over-year gain puts it among the top performers in the region, suggesting price-sensitive renters are pushing further out from D.C. as higher-cost submarkets soften.
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Fredericksburg, VA: The $1,800 median rent in September was the lowest in this table, which keeps Fredericksburg accessible to renters priced out of the core NoVA submarkets. The 2.9% month-over-month increase was the sharpest single-month jump here, though the 2.7% year-over-year decline suggests pricing is still working through a correction from prior peaks.
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Herndon, VA: Tech tenants from AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud campuses along the Silver Line corridor make Herndon a reliable, high-income renter base that tends to prioritize space and Metro access over urban walkability. At $2,750 median rent in September, up 2.1% month-over-month and 4.8% year-over-year, Herndon posted the strongest annual rent growth in this table and tied for the fastest leasing pace at 37 days.
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Fairfax, VA: The $3,186 median rent in September was the highest in this table, but the 3.5% year-over-year decline and 0.8% month-over-month dip signal that the top of the price range is under the most pressure as the peak leasing season closes out. At 37 days on market, demand has not disappeared, but owners pricing at or above last year's levels should expect longer vacancy heading into fall.
NoVA Rent by Bedroom Count and Property Type — September 2026
Rent by Bedroom Count in NoVA
Rents in NoVA scaled steadily from $1,663 for studios up to $3,811 for 4-bedroom rentals in September 2026, a spread of $2,148 across the range. The biggest single jump came between 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom rentals, where the median climbed $830, from $2,376 to $3,206. By comparison, the step from studio to 1-bedroom added only $166, making that the smallest gap between adjacent tiers. Renters willing to go from a 3-bedroom to a 4-bedroom paid an additional $605, a meaningful but noticeably smaller premium than the 2-to-3-bedroom leap.
| Bedroom Count in NoVA | Median Rent (September 2026) |
|---|---|
| Studio | $1,663 |
| 1-Bedroom | $1,829 |
| 2-Bedroom | $2,376 |
| 3-Bedroom | $3,206 |
| 4-Bedroom | $3,811 |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, NoVA, September 2026. |
Rent by Property Type in NoVA
Single-family homes commanded the steepest premium in NoVA in September 2026, with a median rent of $3,729, which is $1,127 (43.3%) above the blended metro median of $2,602. Townhouses followed at $3,471, still $868 (33.4%) above the blended median, though they leased slightly slower than single-family homes, closing in 36 days versus 29. At the other end, apartments sat $521 (20.0%) below the blended median at $2,082 and took 73 days to lease, more than twice as long as single-family homes. Condos landed in between at $2,248, just $354 (13.6%) below the blended median, and leased in 34 days, making them the fastest-moving of the lower-priced types.
| Property Type in NoVA | Median Rent | Avg. Days on Market | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Property Types (Blended) | $2,602 | 43 days | -0.3% |
| Single Family | $3,729 | 29 days | +15.0% |
| Condo | $2,248 | 34 days | -4.5% |
| Townhouse | $3,471 | 36 days | +3.6% |
| Apartment | $2,082 | 73 days | -0.9% |
| Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, NoVA, September 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.