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Apartment rents across Fairfax County declined modestly in July, extending a period of soft conditions that analysts have linked partly to elevated multifamily construction.

The county’s median rent for all apartment sizes was $2,430 in July 2026, down from $2,463 a year earlier, a 1.3% decline. Median rents were $2,082 for one-bedroom units and $2,412 for two-bedroom units.

In Tysons, the reported median rent for all unit sizes was $2,666. Apartment List reported that Tysons rents were down 1.1% year over year. The July figures also included medians of $2,242 for one-bedroom units and $2,906 for two-bedroom units.

The Tysons all-unit median remained below the area’s reported record of $2,696 in June 2025 but above its January 2021 median of $2,066, during the pandemic-era rental downturn.

Seven of the eight Fairfax-area markets tracked by Apartment List posted year-over-year rent declines in July. Annandale recorded the largest reported drop, at 6%, followed by Fair Oaks at 3.9%, Fairfax City at 2.9%, Centreville at 2.2%, and Lorton and Tysons at 1.1%. Reston declined 0.9%. Herndon was essentially flat, with a reported 0.1% increase.

Reston’s median apartment rent was $2,424 in July. That figure was below the market’s reported July 2025 record and above its January 2021 median of $1,803.

Apartment List analysts said the market’s usual seasonal pattern has changed during the recent soft spell.

“The broad contours of this seasonal pattern are a dependable trend, but in recent years we’ve seen sharper winter dips and more modest summer bumps as the market has gone through a soft spell amid a wave of new multifamily construction.”

— Apartment List analysts

The analysts also said annual rent growth had been negative during each of the previous three years.

Zumper analysts pointed to the volume of new housing delivered nationally. More than 600,000 multifamily units were delivered in 2024, according to their analysis, the most in any year since 1986. The market struggled to absorb the resulting inventory, they said.

The timing of the latest figures may also matter. “We are now approaching the tail end of the peak moving season, and the off-season cooldown in prices is likely to begin in another month or two,” Zumper analysts said.

They added that the market was “now finally changing” after struggling to absorb the construction boom’s new inventory.

Apartment List and Zumper released the July rental-market figures on July 29, 2026.