Updated September 2026
If you've been watching Alexandria this summer and wondering whether things cooled off, you're not imagining it.
You're also not seeing the whole picture.
August told two different stories depending on which side of the city line you're standing on. In Alexandria City (5 ZIPs), fewer homes closed and the median sale price went up. In the Fairfax County neighborhoods that share an Alexandria mailing address, sales held steady and the median slipped a little.
Here's what closed, what it sold for, and what we'd do with it.
Two Alexandrias, measured separately
The city figures below cover closed sales in the independent City of Alexandria across the ZIPs that take in Del Ray, Rosemont, North Ridge, Parkfairfax, Landmark, Cameron Station, part of the West End, Arlandria, Potomac Yard, Old Town, Carlyle and Eisenhower Valley. The ZIP covering Seminary Hill and the rest of the West End isn't included, so this isn't a complete city total.
The Fairfax figures cover the county's Alexandria-address ZIPs: Hybla Valley, Gum Springs, Belle Haven, New Alexandria, Fort Hunt, Waynewood, Mount Vernon, Engleside, Woodlawn, Rose Hill, Franconia and Kingstowne. Those homes have an Alexandria address, but they sit outside the city.
We keep the two apart. Neither one is a single-neighborhood figure. If you're weighing the Fairfax side, our Kingstowne and Fort Hunt guide covers what daily life there looks like.
August 2026 sale prices
The median sale price in Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) was $760,000 in August 2026, based on our analysis of Bright MLS closed-sale records, compared with $698,500 in August 2025. That's up 8.8% by our math.
Median price per square foot in Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) moved the same direction in the same analysis: $549 in August 2026 versus $495 a year earlier.
In the Fairfax County Alexandria-address ZIPs, the August 2026 median was $694,500, against $715,000 in August 2025, per our analysis of Bright MLS closed-sale records. By our math, that's down 2.9%. Median price per square foot there barely moved: $431 versus $429.
Chart 1. Median sale price, August 2025 vs August 2026: Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) and Fairfax County Alexandria-address ZIPs. Source: Calculated from Bright MLS closed-sale records.
The Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) bars climb and the Fairfax bars dip, which is the headline. The next part is where it gets interesting.
Why the Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) median rose while condos and houses fell
Break the Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) August sales out by home type and two of the three medians went down.
- Condos: 59 closed in August 2026 at a median of $407,000, versus 88 sales at $427,500 in August 2025.
- Townhouses: 42 closed at a median of $882,100, versus 51 sales at $830,000 a year earlier.
- Detached houses: 20 closed at a median of $1,266,250, versus 30 sales at $1,321,000 in August 2025.
Condos were 88 of 172 Alexandria City sales in August 2025 and 59 of 121 in August 2026.
That small shift matters. When about half of a month's sales are condos, the overall median lands right at the seam where condo prices end and townhouse prices begin. Nudge the mix toward townhouses and the median jumps, even if condo and house prices soften.
That's our read of the August number. So we wouldn't take the Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) median as proof that every Old Town rowhouse or Del Ray bungalow is worth more than it was last summer. The number that matters for your house comes from genuinely comparable sales, which is how Alexandria homes get priced in the first place. Our Alexandria home values by neighborhood piece goes a level deeper.
On the Fairfax side, the same analysis breaks out this way for August 2026 versus August 2025:
- Detached houses: 73 sales at a median of $835,000, versus 75 sales at $812,500.
- Townhouses: 50 sales at $620,000, versus 42 sales at $635,000.
- Condos: 19 sales at $350,000, versus 22 sales at $316,250.
August 2026 closed sales
Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) had 121 closed sales in August 2026, down from 172 in August 2025. That's a 29.7% drop by our math.
The Fairfax County Alexandria-address ZIPs had 142 closed sales, compared with 139 a year earlier. Up 2.2% by our math, which is essentially steady.
Chart 2. Closed sales, August 2025 vs August 2026: Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) and Fairfax County Alexandria-address ZIPs. Source: Calculated from Bright MLS closed-sale records.
The Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) bars fall off noticeably from one August to the next, and the decline shows up in all three home types listed above. The Fairfax bars sit almost level.
For a city seller, fewer closings means fewer fresh comps on your street. In our experience, that turns pricing into more of a judgment call, and it's where knowing the actual blocks earns its keep.
Time on market in August 2026
Homes that closed in Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) in August 2026 took a median of 17 days on the market, compared with 12.5 days in August 2025.
In the Fairfax County Alexandria-address ZIPs, the median was 14.5 days, versus 13 days a year earlier.
A few home types slowed more than the overall numbers:
- City condos: a median of 22 days across 59 sales, versus 13 days across 88 sales in August 2025.
- Fairfax-side townhouses: 15.5 days across 50 sales, versus 8 days across 42 sales.
- Fairfax-side condos: 29 days across 19 sales, versus 14 days across 22 sales.
City townhouses held their pace: 11 days across 42 sales in August 2026, the same 11 days across 51 sales a year before.
Asking price and concessions in August 2026
Fewer buyers paid the original asking price or more.
In Alexandria City (5 ZIPs), 44.6% of August 2026 sales closed at or above original list price, compared with 52.3% in August 2025.
In the Fairfax County Alexandria-address ZIPs, the share was 45.8%, versus 48.9% a year earlier.
Seller concessions were common, too. In August 2026, 42.1% of Alexandria City (5 ZIPs) sales and 44.4% of Fairfax-side sales included a seller concession of some amount. That's one month's reading, so treat it as a snapshot rather than a trend.
These shares say how often it happened, not how big the concessions were. In our experience, a concession and the price are really one conversation, and the right answer depends on the house, the inspection and the buyer's financing.
What was for sale in mid-August
Listings and contracts come from a different source with its own coverage, so these counts won't line up with the closed-sale numbers above.
Bright MLS data counted 399 homes for sale in Alexandria City, Virginia, and 160 homes under contract, as of August 14, 2026. The median list price on those active listings was $515,000, and they'd been on the market a median of 48 days as of the same date.
Two cautions. That list price is what sellers are asking on homes still available, not what anything sold for. And those active-listing days describe homes still waiting, not how long sold homes took.
For context next door, Bright MLS counted 420 homes for sale and 225 under contract in Arlington, Virginia, with a median list price of $725,000 and a median of 45 days on market for active listings, as of August 14, 2026.
The Fairfax, Virginia report area showed 264 homes for sale, 196 under contract, a median list price of $700,000 and 48 median days on market for active listings, per Bright MLS as of August 14, 2026. That report area is a different footprint from the Fairfax County Alexandria-address ZIPs above.
Mortgage rates and property taxes around August
Rates didn't do much year over year in August. Freddie Mac's weekly survey history shows the U.S. average 30-year fixed rate at 6.69% for the week of August 6, 2026 and 6.66% for the week of August 27, 2026. The matching August 2025 weeks were 6.63% and 6.56%. By our math, that's 0.06 percentage point higher in the first week and 0.10 percentage point higher in the last.
After August, rates rose. The current Freddie Mac survey put the 30-year average at 7.03% as of September 24, 2026, compared with 6.30% a year earlier. These are national averages, not a quote for your loan, so a lender is the right call for your own number.
On property taxes, the City of Alexandria real estate tax rate is $1.135 per $100 of assessed value for 2026, set by City Council on April 29, 2026. Fairfax County's tax-rates page lists a base rate of $1.12 per $100 for tax year 2026, down from $1.1225 in 2025, and describes those as the proposed rates from the adopted budget. Special district taxes can apply on top of the base rate for some parcels. For what that means for your own bill, a CPA is the person to ask.
If you're buying for the first time, our first-time buyer guide for Alexandria walks through the rest of the budget.
What we'd do with August
If you're selling in the city, price from your own comps, not the headline median. That median rose partly because of which homes happened to sell. Expect a buyer to ask about concessions, and decide ahead of time what you'd trade for a clean offer.
If you're selling on the Fairfax side, the pace held, but townhouses and condos took longer than they did last August. Our read: presentation and first-week pricing carry more weight when buyers aren't rushing.
If you're buying, fewer August sales in both areas went at or above the original asking price than a year ago. In our experience, that tends to mean more room to talk, though every house is its own negotiation and nothing here promises an outcome.
And if you're simply curious where your own home stands, start with what your Alexandria home is worth and we'll take it from there.
Elizabeth Lucchesi founded The LizLuke Team at LONG & FOSTER REAL ESTATE INC and has spent more than twenty years in residential real estate, after a first decade-plus in commercial real estate. She's lived in Del Ray for decades, holds the CRS and SRES designations, and is licensed in Virginia and Washington, D.C. Most of our business comes from referrals and repeat clients. You can meet the team here.
It all starts with a conversation.
The LizLuke Team at LONG & FOSTER REAL ESTATE INC. 110 N Royal St, Ste 300,
Alexandria, VA 22314. Office 703.683.0400. The LizLuke Team (703) 868-5676. Virginia License #0225069250.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Sources
Bright MLS closed-sale records, August 2025 and August 2026, for the City of Alexandria (ZIPs 22301, 22302, 22304, 22305, 22314) and the Fairfax County Alexandria-address ZIPs (22306, 22307, 22308, 22309, 22310, 22315). Medians and shares are calculated from individual records and may differ from Bright MLS published reports.
Long & Foster Real Estate, Community Market Reports for Alexandria City, Arlington, and Fairfax, Virginia, August 2026. Data provided by Bright MLS and Williamsburg Area AOR MLS.
Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey, weekly history and release of September 24, 2026: https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms
City of Alexandria, Virginia, Real Estate Tax Rates and Due Dates, tax year 2026: https://www.alexandriava.gov/RealEstateTax
Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration, Tax Rates, tax years 2025 and 2026: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/taxes/real-estate/tax-rates
