Affordability issues and higher interest rates led to a rough month in real estate across Alexandria in September.
Sales for the month totaled 143, down from 167 a year before and below the five-year average of 150 for the month, according to data reported Oct. 12 by MarketStats by ShowingTime.
The same figures showed a decline in the overall average sales price, which dropped more than 12% to $750,137.
Part of the decline was due to the smaller percentage of single-family homes in the overall sales mix. But all three segments of the market recorded year-over-year drops:
- The average sales price of single-family homes dropped 7.3% to $1,256,267
- The average sales price of attached homes — townhouses, rowhouses and condominiums — was down 8% to $715,387
- The average sales price of condominiums was down 18.5% to $423,806
Add up the transactions and prices, and total market volume citywide for September was $107.7 million, down 24.4% from $142.4 million a year before.
Homes that went to closing in September spent an average of 28 days between listing and ratified sales contract — unchanged from 28 days a year before — and garnered 97.7% of original listing price, down from 98.7%.
The five-year average days on the market for September was 24 while the five-year average for sales price vs. listing price was 98.5%, according to data.
Buyers had more inventory to choose from, with the 464 city properties on the market at the end of September up from 366 a year before and about 50% higher than the five-year September average of 310.
A soft local market appears likely to linger, with the 133 pending sales recorded at the end of September down from 162 a year before. Those pending sales tend to translate into completed transactions within a month or two of posting.
Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist for the Bright MLS multiple listing service, said Alexandria’s relatively anemic September sales figures were emblematic of a larger regional trend:
“Buyer traffic in the DC area has dropped off considerably. The number of pending sales in September was down 17.1% year-over-year while showings were down by 16.9%. Pending sales and showings were down across virtually all local jurisdictions in the DMV. It is higher rates, and not federal government cuts, that is quelling the D.C. area housing market. Inventory is climbing with active listings above pre-pandemic levels. With cooler demand, there may be local markets this fall where prices fall below last year’s levels, though significant price drops are not expected.”
A general increase in sales prices year over year across the region was due largely to a greater percentage of more expensive single-family homes in the overall sales mix, Sturtevant said.
All figures represent most, but not all, homes on the market. September 2026 figures are preliminary and are subject to revision.
September’s data arrived as those in Virginia’s real estate industry hunkered down for the cooler market conditions that autumn typically brings.
A monthly online “flash survey” of members of the Virginia Realtors trade organization conducted Sept. 23 to 30 found that only 6% of respondents described buyer activity in their area as “high” or “very high,” while 59% rated it “low” or “very low.”
A total of 511 Virginia Realtors members responded to the survey, including 373 who participated in a home sales transaction in the past month.
The organization’s monthly Buyer Activity Index, which in April hit a 2026 peak of 55 on a 0-to-100 scale, declined to a yearlong low of 24 in September. And only 4% of respondents expect strong buyer activity in three months’ time.
Among respondents to the survey, 44% said they expected prices in their areas to be lower at the end of the year than they were in late September, with 20% expecting prices to rise and 33% expecting relatively little change.
In other real estate news:
Per-square-foot prices down in inner core: Prices on a per-square-foot basis were down in the region’s inner core in September, but saw increases in outlying areas.
Average sales prices on a per-square-foot basis were down in the District of Columbia ($483 from $509 a year before) as well as in Arlington ($486 vs. $500), Falls Church ($528 vs. $545) and Alexandria ($479 vs. $500).
Prices also were down in Fairfax County ($367 vs. $371) and Fairfax City ($353 vs. $365).
But per-square-foot prices were up in Loudoun County ($301 vs. $296 a year before) and Prince William County ($255 vs. $246).
For the Mid-Atlantic as a whole, September’s average per-square-foot sales price of $254 was up slightly from $252, according to data reported by MarketStats by ShowingTime.
Year-to-date sales up 2.1% in major local jurisdictions: Home sales for the first nine months of 2026 were up 2.1% from the same period in 2025, according to an ALXnow analysis of data reported by MarketStats by ShowingTime.
A total of 20,691 properties changed hands during the January-through-September market in Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties and the city of Alexandria. That’s up from 20,174 during the first nine months of 2025.
Two jurisdictions posted increases, with three others showing declines:
- Home sales across Fairfax County were 9,374, up 3.4% from 9,069
- Sales in Prince William County stood at 4,081, up 9.4% from 3,769
- Transactions in Loudoun County totaled 3,850, down 4.2% from 4,019
- Sales in Arlington were 1,782, down 0.2% from 1,786
- Transactions in Alexandria were 1,522, down 0.9% from 1,536
Across the entire Mid-Atlantic region covered by MarketStats by ShowingTime and Bright MLS, the region’s multiple-listing service, year-to-date sales totaled 168,157, up 0.2% from 167,762.
Philadelphia County, Pa., had the most sales during the nine months, with its 10,164 down 3.1% from the year before. Fairfax County was second, followed by Montgomery County, Md. (7,372); Montgomery County, Pa. (6,457); and Baltimore County, Md. (6,140).
Image via Francesca Tosolini/Unsplash
