So You Want a Big Yard in Arlington?

 

Question: We’re moving to Arlington from out of state and have always had at least an acre of land. We’d like at least ½ acre in Arlington, but can’t find much. How big are most lots in Arlington?

 

Answer: I talk a lot about making sure the home you want exists before setting your hopes and dreams on finding it. Understanding what lot sizes you can expect to find in Arlington is a great example of that, so this week I’ll share data on lot sizes from homes sales going back to 2019.

 

 

The data is based on the total square footage of a lot, including the land the home sites on. Most people think about lots in terms of acres, so here’s a quick conversion key:

 

Square Feet	Acres
5,445	1/8
10,890	1/4
21,780	1/2
32,670	3/4
43,560	1

 

• Average lot = 8,479 SqFt
  
  
• Median lot = 7,277 SqFt
  
  
• Lot with ¼ acre or more is in the top 83% largest lots
  
  
• 1.4% with ½ acre or more
  
  
• Just six of 4,355 were 1+ acre, none were 2+ acres
  
  
• More homes sold on 1/10^th acre or less than ½ acre or more
  
  

The chart below shows the percentage of homes sold in Arlington within five different ranges. 69% of homes sit on lots with 5,000-9,999 SqFt.

 

 

Drilling down even further, we see that 1,672 of 4,355 lots (38%) were between 6,000 and 7,999 SqFt

 

 

Lot sizes are not evenly distributed across the County. The smallest lots are found in South Arlington and along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor with larger lots found further norther. The large lot sizes are one reason why 22207 has so much tear down-new build activity.

 

Below you can see a distribution of lot sizes by zip code, first as a percentage of sales in each zip code and then by number of sales in each zip code.

 

 

 

If any readers would like to see pricing data for certain lot sizes, I’m happy to pull that for you, just send me an email.

 

If you’d like to discuss buying, selling, investing, or renting, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

Video summaries of some articles can be found on YouTube on the Ask Eli, Live With Jean playlist.

Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with RLAH @properties, 4040 N Fairfax Dr #10C Arlington VA 22203. (703) 390-9460.