Northern Virginia Guide › Fairfax County › Reston
Reston, Virginia
Two Silver Line stations, five villages, and more townhouses sold than houses.
At a glance
Six numbers that describe Reston.
The median single-family home in Reston sold for $1,120,000 in 2026 and went under contract in five days, and about half sold above the asking price. The median townhouse sold for $676,500.
Reston is the planned community Robert E. Simon began in the 1960s: villages of townhouses and houses set around lakes, pools and wooded paths, run by the Reston Association. This page covers what a house or townhouse costs, how buyers pay, what it rents for, which high school it feeds, the Silver Line commute and the association fee. Every number is from Bright MLS closed sales, pulled on October 2, 2026, not from a listing site's estimate.
Reston is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County with three zip codes, 20190, 20191 and 20194. Single-family means a detached house with at least three bedrooms and two full baths; townhouse means end-of-row and interior-row homes; condominium-regime homes, common near the Metro stations and Reston Town Center, are left out of both. Source: Bright MLS, closed sales January 1 to October 2, 2026, County = Fairfax, Postal City = Reston, pulled by Ahmed Makkiyah on October 2, 2026.
Prices
A Reston house sold for $1.12 million in 2026, a townhouse for $676,500.
The median Reston house cost $241,000 more than one in Herndon next door ($879,000) and $333,000 less than one in Vienna ($1,453,000). A townhouse cost almost as much per square foot as a house: $448 against $462.
Houses. 185 sold, from $501,000 to $3,218,879, and 108 of them were in zip 20191, 60 in 20194 and 17 in 20190. About half sold above asking, 60.5% went under contract within a week, and the median sold-to-list was exactly 100%. Reston's median was above Clifton ($1,100,000) and Falls Church ($1,055,000) and below Fairfax Station ($1,245,000).
Townhouses. Reston sold more townhouses than houses: 292, at a median of $676,500, from $292,000 to $1,436,389. That is less than Oakton ($798,500) or Falls Church ($774,000) and more than Springfield ($630,000). Zip 20191 had 140 of the sales, 20190 had 93 and 20194 had 59.
Condos are not counted. Reston has many condominium homes, from garden apartments to high-rises near Reston Town Center. They are a separate market and are left out of every number on this page.
Median single-family sale price, 20262
Bright MLS closed sales, 2026 year to date, except the Fairfax County row (September 2026 alone). The town rows are filtered to 3+ bedrooms and 2+ full baths and leave out condominium-regime homes; the Fairfax County row has no size filter. Fairfax, Alexandria and Falls Church mean the Fairfax County addresses, not the independent cities, and Chantilly means its Fairfax County side. Arlington County, the neighbor to the east, is one row for the whole county (pulled October 3, same filters). The Cities of Fairfax, Falls Church and Alexandria are independent cities next to the county, shown under their own names. Oak Hill (20 sales) and Dunn Loring (12) are too small to chart.
| Measure | Single-family | Townhouse |
|---|---|---|
| Homes sold | 185 | 292 |
| Median sold price | $1,120,000 | $676,500 |
| Average sold price | $1,171,440 | $740,288 |
| Median price per square foot | $462 | $448 |
| Median days to contract | 5 | 6 |
| Median sold-to-list | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Sold above asking | 97 (52.4%) | 127 (43.5%) |
| Under contract within 7 days | 60.5% | 57.5% |
| Lowest sale | $501,000 | $292,000 |
| Highest sale | $3,218,879 | $1,436,389 |
| Total dollar volume | $216.7M | $216.2M |
| Cash sales | 34 (18.4%) | 52 (17.8%) |
The dearest house, $3,218,879, closed on a $2,376,000 list price (135%) with no days on market; it looks like new construction where upgrades were added after listing. One house sold for $1,300,000 on a $2,200,000 list (59%), a big price cut or an overpriced listing, and one townhouse sold for $319,000 cash on a $440,000 list, likely an as-is sale. They pull the average sold-to-list to 101.7% for houses and 100.8% for townhouses; the median, 100.0%, is the better number.
What can you afford in Reston? Start from the monthly payment you can live with, not the price. Most Reston homes pay the Reston Association's $890 a year, many clusters charge their own fee on top, and Reston adds two small district taxes; the calculator adds them for you.
Follow the money
Nearly one buyer in five paid cash, more than twice Herndon's share.
In 2026, 34 of 185 Reston house buyers paid cash (18.4%), against 8.2% in Herndon, and cash bought 19.0% of the dollars. Above $1.3 million, 13 of 47 houses sold for cash.
Share of sales paid in cash, by price and home type
Cash buys the top of the townhouse market: 26 of 73 townhouses at $840,000 or more sold for cash, against about 12% below that. The median cash townhouse was $828,500 against $671,500 financed, and cash buyers spent $44.3 million of $216.2 million, 20.5% of all townhouse dollars.
How 185 Reston house purchases were paid for
Three in four house buyers used a conventional loan, 136 of 185. Seven used a VA loan and eight used FHA, a private loan, an ARM or mixed financing. The median cash house was $1,150,000 against $1,114,000 financed, so cash buyers here are not only at the very top.
What that means if you need a loan: about one competing offer in five may be cash, and six in ten houses went under contract within a week. The offer that wins is a full pre-approval, a short inspection window and an appraisal-gap plan you decided before the open house. On a townhouse above $840,000, expect a cash offer in the pile.
Townhouses: 210 conventional, 52 cash, 20 VA, 5 FHA, 3 other, 1 VHDA and 1 assumable loan of 292. Mixed cash-and-loan deals were counted as financed.
The interesting facts
292 townhouses and 185 houses sold, for the same $216 million each.
Four things in the 2026 numbers that set Reston apart.
A townhouse town. Reston sold more townhouses than houses, 292 against 185, and the two markets moved almost exactly the same money, about $216 million each. For many buyers the Reston townhouse, not the house, is the home they are shopping for.
Cash at the top of the townhouse market. More than a third of townhouses at $840,000 or more were bought for cash, against about one in eight below that. If you are selling a large townhouse near the Metro, a cash buyer is a real possibility; if you are buying one with a loan, plan for that competition.
Houses are scarce to rent. Only 30 single-family houses were leased in Reston all year, against 223 townhomes, seven townhomes for every house. A family that wants to rent a house first should start looking early and be ready to apply the same day.
Rent or buy
A townhouse rents for $3,300 a month and pays back sooner than a $4,400 house.
A Reston house rents for a median of $4,400 a month and sells for $1,120,000, a price-to-rent ratio of 21.2; a townhome rents for $3,300 and sells for $676,500, a ratio of 17.1.1
| Measure | Single-family | Townhome |
|---|---|---|
| Homes rented | 30 | 223 |
| Median monthly rent | $4,400 | $3,300 |
| Average monthly rent | $4,657 | $3,430 |
| Gross rental yield | 4.7% | 5.9% |
| Rent range | $2,800 to $9,000 | $2,450 to $5,995 |
Gross yield is before the mortgage, tax, Reston Association and cluster fees, insurance and upkeep. A ratio above 20 means a house rents cheaply for what it costs, so renting a house in Reston is fair value for a family that may move within a few years; a townhouse at 17 pays off sooner. Townhome leases were spread across all three zips: 99 in 20191, 73 in 20190 and 51 in 20194. Rentals are filtered by home type only, with no bedroom or bath minimum.
Own in Reston already? Half the houses and 44% of the townhouses sold above asking this year. Ahmed runs a real comparative analysis against the 477 sales on this page, in your village and your home type, not a website estimate.
The houses
Five villages, from Lake Anne in 1965 to North Point in 1993.
Reston was built village by village: Lake Anne, Hunters Woods, Tall Oaks, South Lakes and North Point, each with its own center, with clusters of townhouses and streets of houses in the woods between.
Lake Anne. The first village, built from 1963 to 1967 and dedicated in December 1965, with townhouses and apartments around a man-made lake and a plaza now on the National Register of Historic Places. Hickory Cluster nearby is 90 modernist townhouses designed by Charles M. Goodman in 1965.
Hunters Woods and Tall Oaks. Hunters Woods was planned around an equestrian theme; Tall Oaks, from 1974, sits on higher ground just east of Lake Anne and took its idea from European hill towns.
South Lakes and North Point. South Lakes village, from 1984, sits by Lake Thoreau and Lake Audubon and the Walker Nature Center. North Point, from 1993, is the newest village, lower density and heavily wooded, with a mix of houses, patio homes and townhouses.
Reston Town Center. Opened in 1990 and now a downtown with offices, shops and high-rise condos beside its own Metro station. Those condos are not in the numbers on this page.
What to check. Whether the home is inside the Reston Association, and the cluster's own fee and reserve study; the resale package with any special assessment; the age of the roof, windows and HVAC on a 1970s or 1980s home; and which high school the address feeds after the Skyview change.
Schools
South Lakes High for most of Reston, and 384 of its students move to Skyview in 2027-28.
Most Reston addresses are in the South Lakes High pyramid, Fairfax County's IB pathway in Reston, with Langston Hughes and Rachel Carson middle schools. Some addresses on the north and west edges feed Herndon High.3
A−
South Lakes High School
Niche #12 in Fairfax County, US News #62 in Virginia. An International Baccalaureate school: 55% of students took at least one IB exam.
B
Herndon High School
Niche #153 in Virginia, about 2,260 students. Serves some addresses on Reston's north and west edges; check yours.
A−
Langston Hughes Middle
On Ridge Heights Road in Reston, about 1,000 students, Niche #73 among Virginia middle schools and the IB feeder for South Lakes. Rachel Carson Middle in Herndon, the other feeder, is Niche A, #7 in Virginia.
New
Skyview High School
FCPS's 25th high school, on Education Drive in Herndon. Boundaries approved July 16, 2026: 384 South Lakes students are reassigned from 2027-28, when rising ninth graders may still opt out.
Masjid
Reston Islamic Center
Masjid Al-Istiqamah on Bowman Green Drive, open for the five daily prayers, with weekly study circles for men and women.
Masjid
ADAMS and Al Fatih
ADAMS was founded in 1983 by families in Herndon and Reston and has a North Reston branch; its main campus is in Sterling. Al Fatih Academy on Pinecrest Road is a full-time Islamic school, preschool to 8th grade.
Halal
Madina Market
On Elden Street in Herndon, about ten minutes away: zabihah meat from an in-house butcher, with South Asian and Middle Eastern groceries.
Halal
Fair Price and Fresh World
Fair Price on Grant Street in Herndon carries only hand-slaughtered meat and chicken; Fresh World International on Elden Street has a certified halal meat section.
If you are buying in the South Lakes pyramid, the high school on the listing today may not be the one your child finishes at: Skyview takes part of South Lakes in 2027-28. Check any address at the FCPS Boundary Locator, and ask Ahmed to confirm it before you offer.
Commute
Two Silver Line stations, and Metro Center about 40 minutes from Wiehle-Reston East.
Reston has two Metro stations on the Silver Line, Wiehle-Reston East (opened 2014) and Reston Town Center (opened November 2022), and sits on the Dulles Toll Road between Tysons and Dulles Airport.
| To | Drive | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown DC | 45 to 75 min | Dulles Toll Road to I-66, or the Silver Line |
| Pentagon | 40 to 60 min | Dulles Toll Road, I-66 and the Beltway |
| Tysons | 20 to 35 min | Dulles Toll Road, or the Silver Line |
| Reston Town Center | 5 to 10 min | Reston Parkway |
| Dulles Airport | 12 to 20 min | Dulles Toll Road or Airport Access Road west |
From Wiehle-Reston East the Silver Line reaches Metro Center in about 38 to 41 minutes. Weekday fares top out at $6.75 and drop to a $2 flat fare at night and on weekends; parking at Wiehle is $4.95 a day. Driving, the Dulles Toll Road costs about $6 each way between Reston and the Beltway with an E-ZPass.5 The Silver Line also runs west to Dulles Airport, so a Reston address works for frequent flyers. Ahmed will do the 7:45 drive or train with you before you offer.
Daily life
55 miles of paths, four lakes and 15 pools, for an $890 assessment.
Outdoors and sights. The Reston Association runs 15 outdoor pools, 52 tennis courts, 55 miles of paths, four lakes (Anne, Thoreau, Audubon and Newport) and about 1,350 acres of open space, with the Walker Nature Center at its heart. Lake Anne Plaza is the original 1960s village center on the water. Reston Town Center has a covered pavilion that is an ice rink from November to March and hosts free summer concerts. The W&OD Trail runs through Reston.
Food and groceries. Afghan kabob houses on Sunrise Valley Drive and Plaza America, halal quick bites around Reston Town Center and North Point, and halal butchers ten minutes away on Elden Street and Grant Street in Herndon. The Safeway at Hunters Woods sells halal lamb.
Taxes and fees.4 Unincorporated Fairfax County, no town tax: $1.12 per $100 plus about $0.0335 in county fees, and Reston adds $0.047 for the Reston Community Center and $0.021 for its transportation service district, about $1.22 all in. That is roughly $13,700 a year on a $1,120,000 house or $8,300 on a $676,500 townhouse. Most homes also pay the Reston Association $890 for 2026, due January 1, and many clusters charge their own fee. The car tax is $4.57 per $100.
Where to eat
"Ahmed, where do you go to eat?" The Reston list.
Up to five picks within about fifteen minutes of Reston in each cuisine, the one doing best at the top, and halal marked. Reston's own kabob houses are on Sunrise Valley Drive and Plaza America; the rest are a short drive away in Herndon, Great Falls, Sterling, Oakton and Vienna.7
Each pick had a current Yelp or Zabihah listing when checked in 2026, and none showed as closed. Rankings weigh current Yelp ratings by review count and whether the place is busy; the halal note comes from Zabihah, Yelp or the restaurant itself, and "ask about halal" means it could not be confirmed. Know one that belongs here? Tell Ahmed.
Who buys here
Silver Line commuters, townhouse buyers and downsizers who pay cash.
Professionals who work in Reston, Tysons or Herndon and want a Metro stop; first-time buyers who choose a townhouse over a condo; families moving up to a house in the South Lakes pyramid; and cash buyers at the top of the townhouse market, where 26 of 73 townhouses at $840,000 or more sold for cash. VA loans are less common here than in Chantilly: 7 of 185 house buyers and 20 of 292 townhouse buyers used one.
Buyers choose Reston over Herndon for the two Metro stations, the paths and pools, and South Lakes, and pay about $241,000 more at the median for a house. They choose it over Vienna to spend about $333,000 less. If you are torn, decide first between a townhouse near a station and a house further out; the price follows.
Questions
What people ask about Reston.
How much does a house cost in Reston, Virginia in 2026?
The median single-family home in Reston (3+ bedrooms, 2+ full baths) sold for $1,120,000 in 2026 through October 2, across 185 sales in Bright MLS, at $462 per square foot. Townhouses sold for a median of $676,500 across 292 sales, at $448 per square foot. Condominium-regime homes are not included, and most homes also pay the Reston Association's $890 a year.
How competitive is the Reston housing market?
Very. In 2026, 52% of Reston houses sold above the asking price, 60.5% went under contract within a week, and the median house took 5 days. Townhouses were close behind: 43.5% sold above asking and the median took 6 days.
Do Reston buyers pay cash or use VA loans?
Many pay cash. In 2026, 34 of 185 house buyers paid cash (18.4%), against 8.2% in Herndon, and 13 of 47 houses at $1.3 million or more sold for cash. Among townhouses, 52 of 292 sold for cash, including 26 of 73 at $840,000 or more. VA loans were used for 7 houses and 20 townhouses.
What is rent in Reston, Virginia?
In 2026 the median single-family house in Reston leased for $4,400 a month, but only 30 houses were rented all year. The median townhome leased for $3,300 a month across 223 leases, with rents from $2,450 to $5,995.
Is it better to rent or buy in Reston?
It depends on the home type. A house sells for $1,120,000 and rents for $52,800 a year, a price-to-rent ratio of 21.2 and a gross yield of 4.7%, so renting a house is fair value if you may move within a few years. A townhouse sells for $676,500 and rents for $39,600 a year, a ratio of 17.1 and a 5.9% yield, so buying pays off sooner.
Which high school serves Reston?
Most of Reston is in the South Lakes High pyramid, an IB school rated A minus by Niche (#12 in Fairfax County) and #62 in Virginia by US News. Some addresses on the north and west edges feed Herndon High. From 2027-28, 384 South Lakes students are reassigned to the new Skyview High in Herndon, so check any address at the FCPS Boundary Locator before you offer.
How long is the commute from Reston to DC?
By Metro, the Silver Line reaches Metro Center in about 38 to 41 minutes from Wiehle-Reston East; Reston Town Center is a second station. By car at 8 am on a weekday, downtown DC is about 45 to 75 minutes, the Pentagon 40 to 60, Tysons 20 to 35 and Dulles Airport 12 to 20. The Dulles Toll Road costs about $6 each way between Reston and the Beltway. These drive times are estimates.
What is the property tax in Reston, Virginia?
Reston pays the Fairfax County 2026 rate of $1.12 per $100 plus about $0.0335 in county fees, and two Reston district taxes, $0.047 for the Reston Community Center and $0.021 for transportation, about $1.22 in all. That is roughly $13,700 a year on a $1,120,000 house or $8,300 on a $676,500 townhouse. Most homes also pay the Reston Association $890 for 2026, and many clusters charge their own fee.
Ask Ahmed
Your Trusted Realtor in NOVA.
Tell me what you are looking for in Reston.
Buying your first townhouse near the Silver Line, moving up to a house in the South Lakes pyramid, or selling where half the houses went over asking. Send the situation and get the numbers back, in English or Arabic, not a pitch.
REALTOR®, Douglas Realty of Virginia · VA License #0225242357
Direct 703.957.0060 · Mobile 734.383.6945 · English and Arabic
Ahmed's take
Two or three sentences in Ahmed's own voice go here: who Ahmed sees buying in Reston, how Ahmed helps a family weigh a townhouse near a Metro station against a house further out, and the first thing Ahmed checks on a listing (the Reston Association and cluster fees, and the high school after the Skyview change).
دليل شمال فرجينيا
السكن في ريستون، فرجينيا.
ريستون مجتمع مخطط في مقاطعة فيرفاكس، وفيه محطتا مترو على الخط الفضي. بلغ السعر الوسطي للبيت المستقل 1,120,000 دولار في 2026، والسعر الوسطي للتاون هاوس 676,500 دولار.
في ريستون بيعت وحدات تاون هاوس أكثر من البيوت المستقلة: 292 مقابل 185. السوق سريع: بيع نحو نصف البيوت بأكثر من السعر المطلوب، وبلغت المدة الوسطية حتى توقيع العقد خمسة أيام. ودفع نحو مشترٍ واحد من كل خمسة نقداً، وفي وحدات التاون هاوس التي يبلغ سعرها 840 ألفاً أو أكثر، بيع أكثر من الثلث نقداً. تدفع أغلب البيوت لجمعية ريستون 890 دولاراً في السنة، وتغطي هذه الرسوم 15 مسبحاً و55 ميلاً من الممرات وأربع بحيرات. المدرسة الثانوية لأغلب ريستون هي ساوث ليكس، وسينتقل 384 من طلابها إلى مدرسة سكايفيو الجديدة اعتباراً من العام 2027-28. مركز ريستون الإسلامي (مسجد الاستقامة) على شارع بومان غرين، ومتاجر اللحم الحلال على شارع إلدن في هيرندن. جميع الأرقام من Bright MLS، مبيعات مغلقة من 1 يناير إلى 2 أكتوبر 2026.
قبل أن تقدّم عرضاً، اسأل عن رسوم جمعية ريستون ورسوم الكلستر، وتأكد من المدرسة الثانوية بعد تغيير سكايفيو. هل تحتار بين تاون هاوس قرب المترو وبيت أبعد قليلاً؟ أرسل لي تفاصيل وضعك، وسأحسب معك أرقامك الحقيقية، بالعربية أو بالإنجليزية.
وكيلك العقاري الموثوق في شمال فرجينيا.
Herndon
Half sold over asking.
$879K
Median house, 2026
Vienna
The end of the Orange Line.
$1.453M
Median house, 2026
Buying power
Start from the payment.
Tax, insurance and HOA included
Home valuation
Priced on evidence.
A real comparative analysis, not a website estimate
Fairfax County
Fifty-one years of prices.
$950K
Median house, September 2026
بالعربية
Every step, in Arabic.
بالعربية أو بالإنجليزية، كما تفضّل