Northern Virginia Guide › Prince William County › Gainesville
Gainesville, Virginia
A big house for the money on Route 29, and one house buyer in seven paid cash.
At a glance
Six numbers that describe Gainesville.
The median single-family home in Gainesville sold for $850,000 in 2026 and went under contract in six days, and it bought about 3,700 square feet at $314 a foot.
Gainesville is an unincorporated part of western Prince William County, zip 20155, where Route 29 meets I-66 just west of the Manassas National Battlefield. It has Heritage Hunt, a large 55-and-over golf community, gated communities on Lake Manassas, and townhouse communities. This page shows what a house or townhouse costs, how buyers pay, what it rents for, which high schools are nearby and the commute. Every number is from Bright MLS closed sales, pulled on October 2, 2026, not from a listing site's estimate.
Gainesville here means the Bright MLS postal city Gainesville in Prince William County; every sale was in zip 20155. 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 are left out of both. Source: Bright MLS, closed sales January 1 to October 2, 2026, pulled by Ahmed Makkiyah on October 2, 2026.
Prices
$850,000 for a house of about 3,700 square feet, $54,500 less than Centreville.
A Gainesville house costs less than one in Haymarket ($992,500), the Fairfax side of Chantilly ($923,650) or Centreville ($904,500), and $25,000 more than one in Bristow ($825,000). At $314 a square foot it costs far less per foot than Centreville ($379).
Houses. 238 houses sold, from $402,000 to $1,700,000, at a median of $850,000 and an average of $895,877. 37% sold above asking, fewer than in Bristow (54%), and 56% went under contract within a week. The median house sold for exactly its list price.
Townhouses. 89 townhouses sold at a median of $585,000, from $455,000 to $825,000. That is more than in Bristow ($570,000) or Centreville ($565,000) and $165,000 less than in Haymarket ($750,000). A townhouse costs more per foot than a house here, $343 against $314.
Against the neighbors. Haymarket's median house costs $142,500 more and is bigger, about 4,340 square feet. Bristow's costs $25,000 less for about 3,610. In Gainesville the median is about 3,700 square feet, so a square foot costs about the same as in Bristow ($304) and less than in Haymarket ($326).
Median single-family sale price, western Prince William and nearby, 20262
Bright MLS closed sales, 2026 year to date, filtered to detached houses with 3+ bedrooms and 2+ full baths, condominium-regime homes left out. Nokesville, Haymarket, Gainesville, Bristow, Manassas (county part), Dumfries, Triangle and Woodbridge are Prince William County postal cities. The Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park are independent cities with their own governments and schools. Aldie, Clifton, Chantilly and Centreville are neighbors across the county lines. Occoquan and Dale City have too few house sales under their own names to chart; nearly all Dale City homes use Woodbridge addresses.
| Measure | Single-family | Townhouse |
|---|---|---|
| Homes sold | 238 | 89 |
| Median sold price | $850,000 | $585,000 |
| Average sold price | $895,877 | $608,275 |
| Median price per square foot | $314 | $343 |
| Median days to contract | 6 | 6 |
| Median sold-to-list | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Sold above asking | 89 (37.4%) | 33 (37.1%) |
| Under contract within 7 days | 56.3% | 52.8% |
| Lowest sale | $402,000 | $455,000 |
| Highest sale | $1,700,000 | $825,000 |
| Cash sales | 36 (15.1%) | 11 (12.4%) |
One house sold for $1,080,000 on an $895,000 list, 121% of the asking price, the mark of a bidding war. It is the only sale far from its list price; the average sold-to-list is 100.5% for houses and 100.1% for townhouses, and the median, 100.0% for both, is the better number.
What can you afford in Gainesville? Start from the monthly payment you can live with, not the price. Prince William's tax rate is lower than Fairfax County's, and many homes here pay an HOA; the calculator adds them for you.
Follow the money
36 of 238 house buyers paid cash, most of them below the median.
Cash buyers paid for 15.1% of Gainesville houses and 14.2% of the dollars, $30.3 million of $213.2 million. They leaned to the cheaper houses: 22 of the 36 cash buys were under $850,000, and the median cash house sold for $805,000, against $850,000 with a loan.
Share of house sales paid in cash, by price range
Cash is more common here than in Haymarket (13.5% of houses) or Bristow (5.4%), and it thins out as the price rises. Townhouses run the other way: 5 of the 11 cash townhouse buys were at $649,000 or more, and the median cash townhouse sold for $640,000 against $584,000 financed.
How 238 house purchases were paid for
About one house buyer in ten used a VA loan, 23 of 238, fewer than in Bristow (25 of 149) or Haymarket (32 of 208). Seven in ten used a conventional loan.
What that means if you need a loan: below about $850,000 you may be up against a cash offer, sometimes from a downsizer who has sold a bigger house. More than half the houses went under contract within a week, but only 37% sold over asking, so the offer that wins is usually a clean one: a full pre-approval, a short inspection window and an appraisal plan you settled before the open house, more than a big escalation.
Townhouses: 68 conventional, 11 cash, 8 FHA and 2 VA of 89. FHA and other on houses is 10 FHA, 1 other loan and 2 mixed cash-and-loan deals; mixed deals were counted as financed.
The interesting facts
One house in five under $760,000 sold for cash.
Four things in the 2026 numbers that set Gainesville apart.
Cash at the bottom, not the top. In Haymarket next door, cash leans to the dearest houses: 19% of those at $1.25 million and up sold for cash. In Gainesville it leans to the cheaper ones: 20% of houses under $760,000 sold for cash, against 10% at $975,000 and up. Heritage Hunt, a 55-and-over community, is likely part of the reason; buyers who sell a family house elsewhere often pay cash for a smaller one here.
Who is buying. Families moving out from Fairfax County for more room, downsizers headed to Heritage Hunt, commuters who want the I-66 Express Lanes at their on-ramp, and Muslim families from Gainesville, Bristow and Haymarket who are building a new ADAMS mosque nearby.
Space for the money. The median house is about 3,700 square feet. The same budget in Centreville, $54,500 more at the median, buys a house at $379 a foot. If you work from home and need an office and a guest room, the numbers lean to Gainesville; if you commute to DC daily, weigh the extra 15 to 20 minutes each way.
Rent or buy
A townhouse rents for $2,985 a month and yields 6.1% a year before costs.
A Gainesville house rents for a median of $3,900 a month and sells for $850,000, a price-to-rent ratio of 18.2; a townhome rents for $2,985 and sells for $585,000, a ratio of 16.3.1
| Measure | Single-family | Townhome |
|---|---|---|
| Homes rented | 60 | 82 |
| Median monthly rent | $3,900 | $2,985 |
| Average monthly rent | $3,939 | $2,986 |
| Gross rental yield | 5.5% | 6.1% |
| Rent range | $2,800 to $6,000 | $2,350 to $4,400 |
Gross yield is before the mortgage, tax, HOA, insurance and upkeep. A ratio of 16 to 18 sits in the middle: buying usually pays off if you stay five years or more, and renting is fair value if you may move sooner. A house rents for the same as in Centreville ($3,900) and a little less than in Haymarket ($4,000). For an investor, a townhouse yields 6.1% gross here against 5.0% in Haymarket.
Own in Gainesville already? Cash buyers are active below $850,000, and more than half the houses went under contract within a week. Ahmed runs a real comparative analysis against the 327 sales on this page, not a website estimate.
The houses
Heritage Hunt's 1,863 homes, Virginia Oaks on the lake, and gated Lake Manassas.
Gainesville's housing runs from a 55-and-over golf community beside the battlefield to large brick houses on Lake Manassas and townhouse communities near Route 29 and I-66.
Heritage Hunt. A 55-and-over community begun in 1997, with 1,863 homes including 154 condominiums, an 18-hole Arthur Hills golf course, two clubhouses and indoor and outdoor pools. Its 750 acres border Conway Robinson State Forest and the Manassas National Battlefield Park. The community has its own rules for buying, selling and renting; read them before you offer.
Virginia Oaks. 563 homes on Lake Manassas, southwest of Heritage Hunt.
Lake Manassas. A gated community of large brick houses set among golf fairways and lake inlets on the north side of the 700-acre Lake Manassas reservoir. The dearest Gainesville house sale of 2026 was $1,700,000.
Townhouses. 89 sold in 2026 at a median of $585,000, from $455,000 to $825,000. 37% sold above asking, and cash buyers here went after the dearer ones.
What to check. The HOA resale package, with the dues, any special assessment and, in Heritage Hunt, the age rules. The road noise from I-66 and Route 29 at the hour you would be home. And whether a data center or power line is planned near the house: look it up on the county's planning map before you fall in love with the view.
Schools
Gainesville High, US News #34 in Virginia and #1 in Prince William County Public Schools.
Gainesville is in Prince William County Public Schools. Gainesville High on University Boulevard opened in 2021 to relieve crowded Battlefield and Patriot, and the three are the high schools of this part of the county; which one an address feeds changes street by street.3
A
Gainesville High School
US News #34 in Virginia and #1 in PWCS. Opened in 2021 as the division's 13th high school, near Jiffy Lube Live.
A
Battlefield High School
In Haymarket, about 2,100 students. US News #40 in Virginia and #3 in PWCS.
A-
Patriot High School
Nokesville address, US News #38 in Virginia. Gave up students to Gainesville High when it opened.
Program
Pathways to Global Citizenship
Every Gainesville High student joins one of 5 academic houses and 15 pathways. Students from other schools can apply to its biomedical, engineering or math pathways.
Masjid
ADAMS Gainesville
The ADAMS Center branch for Gainesville, Bristow and Haymarket. Friday prayer meets in hotel conference rooms while its mosque goes up on Vint Hill Road in Nokesville.
Masjid
Manassas Mosque
On Center Entrance Court in Manassas, founded in 1994, with Jumuah every Friday at 1 pm.
Halal
Gainesville Halal Market
On Lee Highway (Route 29) in 20155: fresh halal meat and international groceries, minutes from Heritage Hunt.
Halal
Ghazaly and ZamZam
In Manassas: Ghazaly Halal Food on Sudley Road, a butcher, bakery and kitchen, and ZamZam Groceries on Commerce Court, with hand-slaughtered meat. Prime Halal is on Centreville Road.
Gainesville High's boundaries were drawn in 2019 from five existing schools, so the school named on a listing is worth checking twice. Niche grades are shown on each card. Check any address with the PWCS school locator, and ask Ahmed to confirm it before you offer.
Commute
The I-66 Express Lanes start in Gainesville: downtown DC in about an hour to an hour and a half.
Gainesville sits at the western end of the I-66 Express Lanes, where Route 29 crosses the interstate. There is no Metro; the commute is the car, a carpool in the Express Lanes, an OmniRide bus or the VRE from Bristow.
| To | Drive | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown DC | 60 to 100 min | I-66 east, Express Lanes if you carpool |
| Pentagon | 55 to 90 min | I-66 east to Route 110, or the OmniRide Pentagon bus |
| Tysons | 40 to 65 min | I-66 east to the Beltway |
| Reston Town Center | 30 to 50 min | I-66 east to Route 28 north and the Dulles Toll Road |
| Dulles Airport | 25 to 40 min | I-66 east to Route 28 north |
The I-66 Express Lanes run from Gainesville to the Beltway and are free for carpools of three with an E-ZPass Flex; everyone else pays a toll that moves with traffic, around the clock. OmniRide runs weekday commuter buses on I-66: the Gainesville-Washington route from the Cushing Road commuter lot and the Gainesville-Pentagon route from the Limestone Road lot.5 A new I-66 slug-line network started in September 2026 with a pickup at University Boulevard in Gainesville. VRE's Manassas Line stops at Broad Run in Bristow, south of Gainesville. Ahmed will do the 7:30 drive with you before you offer.
Daily life
The Manassas battlefield next door, and halal food on Route 29.
Outdoors and sights. Manassas National Battlefield Park, where the two battles of Bull Run were fought, starts just east of Gainesville, and Route 29 runs through it. Conway Robinson State Forest sits on the edge of Heritage Hunt. Jiffy Lube Live, the outdoor concert amphitheater, is a few minutes south in Bristow, near Gainesville High.
Food and groceries. Lee Highway (Route 29) has the halal cluster: Gainesville Halal Market, Afghan Famous Kabob and Maaza 29 within a few blocks. For a full halal butcher, Manassas is about fifteen minutes away, with Ghazaly, ZamZam and Prime Halal.
Taxes.4 Gainesville is unincorporated Prince William County, so there is no town tax. The county cut its 2026 rate to $0.865 per $100, from $0.906; with the $0.07 fire and rescue levy and a small mosquito and forest pest levy it is about $0.94 all in, roughly $8,000 a year on an $850,000 house and $5,500 on a $585,000 townhouse, before HOA dues. Fairfax County's all-in rate is about $1.15. The county's latest published car tax rate is $3.50 per $100 of value, against $4.57 in Fairfax County.
Where to eat
"Ahmed, where do you go to eat?" The Gainesville list.
Up to five picks within about fifteen minutes of Gainesville in each cuisine, the one doing best at the top, and halal marked. The Gainesville picks are on Route 29 (Lee Highway), Linton Hall Road, Somerset Crossing Drive and Piedmont Center Plaza; the rest are in Haymarket, Manassas and Centreville.7
Rankings weigh current Yelp ratings by review count; picks outside Gainesville are within about fifteen minutes. None of the picks showed as closed in its Yelp or Zabihah listing in September and early October 2026. The halal note comes from Zabihah, Yelp or the restaurant itself; "ask about halal" means it could not be confirmed, and at Maaza 29 ask which dishes are halal. Know one that belongs here? Tell Ahmed.
Who buys here
Fairfax County families trading up for space, Heritage Hunt downsizers and I-66 commuters.
Families who sell a smaller house in Fairfax County and want about 3,700 square feet; downsizers moving into Heritage Hunt, many of them with cash; commuters who want to start the day at the western end of the I-66 Express Lanes; military families, 23 of the 238 house buyers used a VA loan; and Arab, Afghan and Pakistani families who shop on Route 29 and in Manassas.
Buyers choose Gainesville over Centreville for $54,500 less at the median and a bigger house at $314 a foot, and give up 15 to 20 minutes of the drive east. They choose it over Haymarket for $142,500 less, and over Bristow for the closer I-66 on-ramp. If you are torn between the three western Prince William towns, decide on the high school and the commute first; the price follows.
Questions
What people ask about Gainesville.
How much does a house cost in Gainesville, Virginia in 2026?
The median single-family home (3+ bedrooms, 2+ full baths) in Gainesville, zip 20155, sold for $850,000 in 2026 through October 2, across 238 sales in Bright MLS, at $314 per square foot for a median of about 3,700 square feet. The median townhouse sold for $585,000 across 89 sales. That is less than Haymarket ($992,500) or Centreville ($904,500) and $25,000 more than Bristow ($825,000). Condominium-regime homes are not included.
How competitive is the Gainesville housing market?
Competitive, with less bidding than Bristow or Centreville. In 2026, 37% of single-family homes sold above the asking price, against 54% in Bristow, and 56% went under contract within a week. The median house and townhouse each took 6 days, and the median house sold for exactly its list price.
Do Gainesville buyers pay cash or use VA loans?
Cash is common: 36 of 238 house buyers paid cash (15.1%), more than in Haymarket (13.5%) or Bristow (5.4%), and 23 used a VA loan, about one in ten. Cash went to the cheaper houses: 20% of houses under $760,000 sold for cash against 10% at $975,000 and up. 166 buyers used a conventional loan.
What is rent in Gainesville, Virginia?
In 2026 the median single-family house leased for $3,900 a month across 60 leases, and the median townhome for $2,985 across 82 leases. House rents ran from $2,800 to $6,000 and townhome rents from $2,350 to $4,400.
Is it better to rent or buy in Gainesville?
A Gainesville house sells for about 18.2 times its yearly rent ($850,000 against $46,800) and a townhouse for 16.3 times ($585,000 against $35,820), for gross yields of 5.5% and 6.1%. At those ratios buying usually pays off if you stay five years or more, and renting is fair value if you may move sooner.
Which high schools serve Gainesville?
Gainesville is in Prince William County Public Schools. Gainesville High on University Boulevard opened in 2021 and is US News #34 in Virginia and #1 in the division, with a Niche grade of A; Battlefield High (US News #40) and Patriot High (US News #38) are the other high schools of this part of the county. Which one an address feeds changes street by street, so check it with the PWCS school locator before you offer.
How long is the commute from Gainesville to DC?
By car at 8 am, downtown DC is about 60 to 100 minutes on I-66, the Pentagon 55 to 90, Tysons 40 to 65 and Dulles Airport 25 to 40; these drive times are estimates. The I-66 Express Lanes start in Gainesville and are free for carpools of three with an E-ZPass Flex, OmniRide runs weekday commuter buses to downtown DC and the Pentagon, and VRE's Manassas Line stops at Broad Run in Bristow.
What is the property tax in Gainesville, Virginia?
Gainesville is unincorporated Prince William County, so there is no town tax. The 2026 county rate is $0.865 per $100, plus the $0.07 fire and rescue levy and a small mosquito and forest pest levy, about $0.94 all in: roughly $8,000 a year on an $850,000 house and $5,500 on a $585,000 townhouse. The latest published car tax rate is $3.50 per $100, and HOA dues are extra.
Ask Ahmed
Your Trusted Realtor in NOVA.
Tell me what you are looking for in Gainesville.
Moving out from Fairfax County for more room, downsizing into Heritage Hunt, or selling where cash buyers are active below $850,000. 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 Gainesville, how Ahmed helps a family choose between Gainesville, Haymarket and Bristow, and the first thing Ahmed checks on a listing (the high school, the HOA package and the I-66 drive).
دليل شمال فرجينيا
السكن في غينزفيل، فرجينيا.
غينزفيل في غرب مقاطعة برنس وليام، حيث يلتقي شارع 29 مع طريق I-66، ورمزها البريدي 20155. بلغ السعر الوسطي للبيت المستقل 850,000 دولار في 2026، وللتاون هاوس 585,000 دولار.
هنا تحصل على بيت أكبر مقابل مالك: مساحة البيت الوسطي نحو 3,700 قدم مربع، بسعر 314 دولار للقدم، مقابل 379 للقدم في سنترفيل. السوق نشط لكنه ليس ملتهباً: بيعت 37% من البيوت بأكثر من السعر المطلوب، وبلغت المدة الوسطية حتى توقيع العقد ستة أيام. ودفع مشترٍ واحد من كل سبعة نقداً، واشترى معظمهم البيوت الأرخص من 850,000. المدارس: غينزفيل هاي، وترتيبها 34 في فرجينيا وفق US News. ويقيم فرع مركز آدمز في غينزفيل صلاة الجمعة في قاعات فنادق المنطقة إلى أن يكتمل بناء مسجده على شارع فينت هيل في نوكسفيل، ويقع سوق غينزفيل الحلال على لي هايوي (شارع 29). جميع الأرقام من Bright MLS، مبيعات مغلقة من 1 يناير إلى 2 أكتوبر 2026.
قبل أن تقدّم عرضاً، تأكد من المدرسة الثانوية للعنوان ومن وثائق جمعية الملاك (HOA). هل تحتار بين غينزفيل وهايماركت أو سنترفيل؟ أرسل لي تفاصيل وضعك، وسأحسب معك أرقامك الحقيقية، بالعربية أو بالإنجليزية.
وكيلك العقاري الموثوق في شمال فرجينيا.
Haymarket
Half the townhouses brand new.
$992.5K
Median house, 2026
Centreville
More townhouses than houses.
$904.5K
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
Bristow
Big houses, low cash share.
$825K
Median house, 2026
بالعربية
Every step, in Arabic.
بالعربية أو بالإنجليزية، كما تفضّل