7  Northern Virginia’s Land Use Restrictions in Context

The following section describes Northern Virginia’s housing market under these land use rules and compares Northern Virginia to peer regions.

Although land use regulations across Northern Virginia limit housing construction and drive up its costs, the commonwealth’s population is growing faster than the United States’ as a whole. Relative to some high-demand parts of the country, Virginia’s regulatory burden is lighter. The slowestgrowing jurisdiction (Fairfax County) grew 5.23 percent from 2010 to 2022, the median jurisdiction (Manassas) grew 12.75 percent, and the fastest-growing jurisdiction (Loudoun County) grew 38.35 percent (Figure 7.1). As a point of comparison, California grew only 4.6 percent over this time and has lost population in the most recent years.

Figure 7.1: Population Growth Across Northern Virginia from 2010 to 2022

In spite of Northern Virginia’s relative accommodation of population growth, house prices have increased as well (Figure 7.2). Between 2019 and 2023, the greater Washington, DC, area saw an increase of roughly 13 percent after adjusting for inflation. Out of nine jurisdictions, only two, Arlington County and Falls Church, saw a decline in the median sale price during this period.