Alexandria closed out 2025 with median apartment rental rates down 2.5% from the start of the year — the first annual decline in five years.
The 2.5% dip is more than twice the rate of decline across the metro area, with Alexandria pushed down in part by a 1.1% drop in median rents from November to December.
Alexandria’s apartment rental costs have cooled over the past year, but remain well above pandemic-era lows.
The city’s median apartment-rental rate in November was $1,996 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,452 for two bedrooms and $2,179 for all units, according to the monthly data analysis by Apartment List.
It’s been an intense week in Alexandria.
Here’s a look back on this week’s top stories. Our most-read post was on the shooting of three men in Arlandria on Sunday night (April 27). Police found the victims with gunshot wounds shortly after being called at around 9 p.m. They were transported to area hospitals, and no arrests have been announced. Witnesses heard a barrage of gunfire, and the Alexandria Police Department is asking for help in the investigation.
It’s only getting more and more expensive to rent in Alexandria.
In a webinar this afternoon, Alexandria’s Office of Housing spelled out the current state of evictions. Given that the vast majority of those evictions are caused by non-payment of rent, Mary Horner, division chief of the Landlord Tenant Division, noted that rental costs are continuing to rise.
A new report from housing nonprofit HAND last week found that roughly 57% of households in Alexandria were renters, which has us wondering: do more ALXnow readers rent or own homes in Alexandria?
That’s higher than the nationwide average, where only 36% — though that’s to be expected for a more urban area.
Alexandria is gaining new residents at almost twice the rate it’s gaining new housing units.
A new report from housing nonprofit HAND — linked to in the latest Mayor Justin Wilson newsletter — outlined housing trends in the City of Alexandria and offered a breakdown of what kind of housing is being built.
After a rare dip during the pandemic, apartment rents in Alexandria have continued to increase dramatically over the last few years, increasing by 4.8% so far this year.
CoStar data on rents, made available by the City of Alexandria, showed the asking rent per unit has continually risen over the last decade aside from a fluke dip in 2020 due to the pandemic.
A lawsuit filed by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb over alleged artificial rent inflation will hit some of the region’s biggest landlords, including companies with properties in Alexandria, DCist first reported.
Schwalb’s lawsuit alleges the landlords of acting as a rent-setting cartel that use Texas-based property management software company RealPage to artificially drive up rent prices around the region.
Alexandria renting units in Class A apartments — newer, high-rise buildings — have seen their rent increase by an average of 4.7% over the last year, real estate website UrbanTurf reported.
Those Class A units comprise the majority of new construction around the region and are generally developments built after 1991 and featuring amenities. The effective rent per month in one of those units in Alexandria, which includes a mix of studios, one and two-bedroom rentals, is $2,475 per month.
Residents of an Arlandria affordable apartment complex say the new owner is drastically, and illegally, raising rent and not notifying tenants within 60 days.
Potomac West Apartments LLC bought the four-building, 60-unit apartment complex in June. Last month, residents with expiring leases were notified via letter of a rent increase.
After years of battling between residents at Southern Towers and building management, a program next week aims to help renters get a better understanding of their rights.
The Tenant’s Rights workshop, presented by Mary Horner of Legal Services of Northern Virginia, is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 17, at 1 p.m. at the Workforce Development Center (4850 Mark Center Drive).
