Home prices in Virginia and Arlington: median value and trend

What the median home value is

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) asks owners how much they think their home would sell for. The median value in table B25077 is the middle answer among all owner-occupied homes in an area, from condos to large houses.

This is the owner’s own estimate. It is not a sale price, not an appraisal and not a list price. It covers every home that owners occupy, including homes bought decades ago, so it describes the existing stock rather than what buyers paid this year.

Arlington is a county, not a city with separate boundaries: the Census Bureau’s figure for “Arlington CDP” is identical to the figure for Arlington County, so this page uses the county. The latest one-year ACS estimates cover 2024. The Census Bureau plans to release the 2025 one-year estimates on October 29, 2026, and the figures below will change then.

How prices have moved: the FHFA index

The ACS gives a level. For the trend, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) publishes a House Price Index built on repeat sales: it compares the prices of the same single-family homes each time they sell. The flagship index uses seasonally adjusted, purchase-only data from mortgages bought or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The latest quarterly release, published August 25, 2026, covers the second quarter of 2026. For the Arlington area, FHFA publishes the metro division “Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA-WV”.

Source: FHFA House Price Index, purchase-only, seasonally adjusted, quarterly files for states, metro areas and the U.S. Changes calculated by Payotte from the published index values.

Virginia prices grew faster than the nation’s over one year (+3.1% against +2.1%) and over five years (+37.3% against +33.4%). The Arlington area rose faster than the state over the past year but less over five years.

A worked example

Take an Arlington-area home worth $400,000 in the second quarter of 2021. If it had followed the Arlington-Alexandria-Reston index exactly, it would have been worth about $509,000 in the second quarter of 2026 (+27.4%). A home worth $500,000 in the second quarter of 2025 would have gained about $18,100 in the last year (+3.6%). A single home can move very differently from the index: location, condition and renovations matter more than the average.

How to use these figures when buying

• Use the ACS median for budgets and comparisons between places. It is the only measure here that gives a dollar level for the state, the county and the metro area with the same method.
• Use the FHFA index for the direction of prices. It tells you whether prices are rising or falling, not what a given home is worth.
• For a specific home, look at recent sales and the appraisal. Your lender orders an appraisal before approving the loan; see our guide to home appraisal costs.

Closing costs come on top of the price. Our Virginia closing costs guide explains who pays what, and our page on buying a home in Arlington applies these numbers to the county. First-time buyers can check the Virginia first-time buyer programs.

Method and dataset

ACS median value. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates, vintage 2024, table B25077 “Median Value (Dollars)”, variable B25077_001E with margin of error B25077_001M. Universe: owner-occupied housing units. Geographies: United States (0100000US), Virginia (0400000US51), Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro area (310M700US47900), Arlington County (0500000US51013); Arlington CDP (1600000US5103000) returns the same value. Values were read through the data.census.gov access API on October 13, 2026.

FHFA index. FHFA House Price Index, quarterly purchase-only, seasonally adjusted series, files hpi_po_state.txt (Virginia), hpi_po_metro.txt (Arlington-Alexandria-Reston, VA-WV, division code 11694) and hpi_po_us_and_census.txt (USA), release of August 25, 2026, data through the second quarter of 2026. Index values used (Q2 2021, Q2 2025, Q2 2026): Virginia 314.18, 418.39, 431.35; Arlington-Alexandria-Reston 344.16, 422.98, 438.30; United States 326.58, 426.58, 435.69. Changes are the ratio of the Q2 2026 value to the earlier value, minus one. The U.S. one-year result (+2.1%) matches FHFA’s release. FHFA plans its next quarterly release, with third-quarter 2026 data, on November 24, 2026.