‘Amazon Effect’ Invigorates Northern Virginia’s Housing Market

Shelly Hagan, Bloomberg News

A pedestrian walks in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, U.S., on Friday, June 28, 2019. This year the Arlington County Board unanimously approved $23 million in incentives for Amazon.com Inc. to build a headquarters in the Crystal City and Pentagon City neighborhoods after more than 200 cities across the country competed to lure the tech giant when it embarked on a year-long search for a so-called HQ2. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Home prices in Arlington County, Virginia, are likely to reach their peak in July with a median sales price of $675,640, according to a report from the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.

Listing prices have remained robust in the Arlington housing market following Amazon.com Inc.’s November announcement that it’s building a second headquarters in the region. Median home prices in the county are projected to increase 17.2% by the end of 2019.

Housing inventory in Arlington and the surrounding areas is expected to be down sharply, helping explain higher list prices. The number of available homes in Arlington is expected to be down nearly 19% by the end of the year, while in Alexandria, Virginia, inventory is seen down 37.5%.

Strength in Arlington home prices buck a nationwide trend. In April, home-price gains in 20 U.S. cities decelerated for the 13th month, particularly in West Coast areas.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shelly Hagan in New York at shagan9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Alex Tanzi, Vince Golle