September 2026 Loudoun County Market Update

What is happening in the Loudoun market right now?

The market has moved toward balance, and it is tilting toward buyers for the first time in a long while.

We are in the stretch between school starting back up and the fall market picking up, which is always a quieter window. But this year the slowdown is more than seasonal. Homes that are presented well, move-in ready, and priced correctly still see multiple offers in the first week. The difference is that a year ago in September those homes were getting ten offers. Now they are getting two or three.

Everything else is sitting 7 to 14 days before going under contract, and that is the new normal rather than a warning sign.

Loudoun County market stats at a glance

Key trends in the Loudoun County housing market

• Inventory has grown a lot. Active listings are up nearly 50% from a year ago, the biggest inventory jump among Northern Virginia's major counties. Buyers have far more homes to choose from than they did last year.
• Homes are taking longer to sell. The median home now goes under contract in 39 days, compared with 27 days a year ago. That's about 44% longer.
• Buyer activity has slowed. Showings are down 15% and new contracts are down 26% from last year. Buyers are still out there, but they're taking their time and comparing options.
• Sellers are adjusting on price. About 1 in 9 active listings had a price cut, up from roughly 1 in 12 last year. The median asking price on new listings is also down about 6% from a year ago.
• More sellers are pulling their homes. Cancellations more than doubled from a year ago. That suggests some sellers would rather wait than meet the market where it is.

What the numbers mean for buyers and sellers

• Supply relative to demand has roughly doubled. At the current contract pace, active inventory equals about 12 to 13 weeks of sales (around 3 months), up from about 6 weeks (around 1.5 months) a year ago. That's still below the roughly 6 months usually treated as a balanced market, but it's moving that way.
• Each listing gets about half the attention. There are about 1.1 showings per active listing, compared with 2.0 a year ago.
• More homes are coming on than going under contract. There are about 86 contracts for every 100 new listings, compared with about 124 a year ago, when demand was outpacing new supply.
• It takes more showings to get a deal done. It now takes about 14 showings per contract, up from about 12.5 a year ago.

How does Loudoun County compare to nearby counties?

• Inventory growth: Loudoun is up 48%, Prince William is up 43%, and Fairfax is up 38%.
• Contract declines are similar across the region: Loudoun is down 26%, Fairfax down 25%, and Prince William down 29%.
• Median days to contract: Loudoun is at 39 days, Prince William at 38, and Fairfax at 36.
• Share of listings with price cuts: Loudoun is at 11.4%, Prince William at 10.4%, and Fairfax at 9.0%.

The bottom line: Loudoun County has shifted toward a more balanced market. Buyers have more inventory, more time, and more room to negotiate. Sellers who price accurately from day one still have plenty of buyer traffic to work with.

Why is inventory going up?

Fewer buyers are out, and the homes that list are taking longer to move, so supply accumulates.

Rates are the main driver. Guaranteed Rate quoted an average 30-year at 6.73% and an average 30-year jumbo at 6.76% last week. That is enough to keep a share of buyers on the sidelines, and you can see the result in how long homes are staying available.

The build-up is not even across the county. We are seeing inventory rise most in Aldie, Leesburg, and Ashburn. The western part of the county, places like Purcellville, Round Hill, and Lovettsville, has stayed roughly the same, though those areas were already moving more slowly before this shift.

What should sellers do right now?

Price at market or slightly below, and understand that the market you are pricing into is not the one you watched your neighbor sell in last year.

This is the hardest conversation we are having right now. A lot of sellers still have last year's numbers in their heads and have not registered that things have shifted. Overpricing has a specific cost in this market, and it is not just a slower sale.

If you list high and sit longer than three weeks, you will have to do a price drop. The moment that price drop hits, buyers stop asking what the house is worth and start asking what is wrong with it. You cannot undo that impression, and you usually end up below where you would have landed if you had priced correctly at the start.

The homes that are still moving fast are the ones that are genuinely move-in ready. Buyers right now do not want a project.

What should buyers do right now?

Get out and look, because this is the best position buyers have been in for years.

The thing nobody is talking about is contingencies. For a long stretch, winning a house in Loudoun meant stripping your offer down to nothing: no inspection, no appraisal contingency, sometimes no financing contingency. That is not what is happening now.

Cardinal Title Group tracks the actual contracts coming across their desk, which is a better read on real negotiating conditions than any public listing site. In their most recent available week, covering August 18 to 24, more than 175 contracts came in.

• 72% included a financing contingency
• 74% included an appraisal contingency
• 70% included some form of home inspection contingency

Roughly seven out of ten buyers are keeping the protections that used to get waived to win. That is a real shift and it is worth knowing before you write an offer, because you may not need to give up as much as you think.

One more thing worth exploring given where rates are: a 5/1 or 7/1 ARM. We are floating this to more buyers than we used to, particularly people who expect to move again within that window. It is not right for everyone, and it is a conversation to have with a lender about your specific situation, but it is on the table in a way it was not a few years ago.

Is it a buyer's or a seller's market in Loudoun?

Balanced, leaning buyer, with real variation by area and by property.

A move-in ready home in a desirable community priced correctly is still a seller's situation. That home goes fast and gets competition. A home that needs work, or is priced on last year's comps, or sits in a slower pocket of the county, is squarely a buyer's situation right now.

That is what a balanced market actually looks like. It is not one condition across the whole county. It is different answers depending on the house.

This post reflects conditions as of September 2026 and is updated monthly. Market data is pulled from Bright MLS and reflects Bright MLS listings only. Contract trend data is provided by Cardinal Title Group and trails by approximately one week. Mortgage rate quotes are from Guaranteed Rate and change daily.

About the author

Caitlin Ellis is a licensed REALTOR® and co-owner of Ellis Properties at Samson Properties, serving Loudoun County and Northern Virginia. She has been licensed since 2012 and works primarily with clients selling and buying at the same time.

Related: Living in Willowsford · Selling in Loudoun County · Buying and Selling at the Same Time · Contact