Northern Virginia Guide › Loudoun County › South Riding
South Riding, Virginia
A planned community on Route 50, where the median house sold for $1.14 million.
At a glance
Six numbers that describe South Riding.
The median single-family home in South Riding sold for $1,140,000 in 2026 and went under contract in seven days, and 44% sold above the asking price.
South Riding is a planned community in Loudoun County, but its homes carry a Chantilly, VA 20152 mailing address. Bright MLS filed 3 of this year's sales under "South Riding" as the city; the numbers here are the Loudoun County side of the Chantilly address, zip 20152, which the MLS shows is nearly all South Riding. The Chantilly page covers the Fairfax County side, 20151, and the two side by side. This page shows what a house or townhouse costs, how buyers pay, what it rents for, which high school it feeds, and the commute. Every number is from Bright MLS closed sales, pulled on October 2, 2026, not from a listing site's estimate.
South Riding is a census-designated place in unincorporated Loudoun County, not a town. Every sale counted here was in zip 20152. 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, Postal City = Chantilly, County = Loudoun, pulled by Ahmed Makkiyah on October 2, 2026.
Prices
$1,140,000 for a South Riding house, the same median as Leesburg.
The median South Riding house cost less than Aldie ($1,348,862), Brambleton ($1,204,938) or Ashburn ($1,186,700) in 2026, and it is big: about 4,400 square feet at $361 a foot, less per foot than Brambleton ($365), Leesburg ($373) or Ashburn ($385).
Houses. 97 sold, from $783,000 to $1,999,980, so none crossed $2 million. Buyers paid the asking price, not more: the median sold-to-list was exactly 100%, and 44% sold above asking, fewer than in Broadlands (61%) or Ashburn (48%). Still, 54.6% went under contract within a week.
Townhouses. South Riding sold as many townhouses as houses: 100 at a median of $707,000 and $295 a foot, from $540,000 to $925,000. In all, 130 townhouses closed in 20152; the 30 in a condominium association are not counted here.
Against the Fairfax side. The Fairfax County side of Chantilly, zip 20151, sold its median house for $923,650, $216,350 less, but for about 2,900 square feet at $424 a foot. South Riding buys more house for the money and pays a lower tax rate.
Median single-family sale price, Loudoun County, 20262
Bright MLS closed sales, 2026 year to date, County = Loudoun, filtered to detached houses with 3+ bedrooms and 2+ full baths, condominium-regime homes left out. Brambleton and Broadlands are their own postal cities, so Ashburn here leaves them out. South Riding (20152) is the Loudoun side of the Chantilly mailing address, nearly all of it South Riding. Hamilton, Purcellville, Round Hill, Lovettsville, Waterford and Middleburg are western Loudoun; Middleburg means the Loudoun County side of its address only. Lansdowne and Cascades are communities selected by zip code and subdivision name inside the Leesburg (20176) and Sterling (20165) addresses, so their sales overlap those rows. Upperville, Bluemont, Hillsboro and the other small places have too few sales to chart.
| Measure | Houses | Townhouses |
|---|---|---|
| Homes sold | 97 | 100 |
| Median sold price | $1,140,000 | $707,000 |
| Average sold price | $1,185,614 | $716,571 |
| Median price per square foot | $361 | $295 |
| Median days to contract | 7 | 7 |
| Median sold-to-list | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Sold above asking | 43 (44.3%) | 42 (42.0%) |
| Under contract within 7 days | 54.6% | 54.0% |
| Lowest sale | $783,000 | $540,000 |
| Highest sale | $1,999,980 | $925,000 |
| Cash sales | 7 (7.2%) | 11 (11.0%) |
The average sold-to-list was 100.6% for houses and 100.5% for townhouses; the medians, 100.0%, are the better numbers. House sales totaled $115.0 million. Bright MLS also lists 3 sales with "South Riding" as the city, a median of $1,085,000 from $565,000 to $1,100,000, pulled without the bedroom and bath filters; they are not in the table.
What can you afford in South Riding? Start from the monthly payment you can live with, not the price. Loudoun's tax rate is lower than Fairfax County's, but most South Riding homes pay the master HOA and a village HOA; the calculator adds them for you.
Follow the money
Fewer than one South Riding buyer in ten paid cash: 7 of 97 houses and 11 of 100 townhouses.
Cash buyers spent $9.6 million of the $115.0 million that changed hands for South Riding houses in 2026, 8.3% of the dollars. They bought bigger: their median house cost $1,440,000, against $1,140,000 for buyers with a loan.
Share of sales paid in cash, South Riding and neighbors
Cash is rare in South Riding, about as rare as on the Fairfax side of Chantilly and far rarer than in Ashburn (16.9% of houses) or Leesburg (13.2%). Townhouse cash buyers also paid more: a median of $780,000 against $705,000 financed.
How 97 South Riding house purchases were paid for
South Riding runs on mortgages: 81 of 97 house buyers used a conventional loan, 7 paid cash, 5 used a VA loan, 2 used FHA and 2 used another loan type.
What that means if you need a loan: you are rarely competing with cash, and more than half of the houses sold at or under the asking price. But 55% still went under contract within a week, so have a full pre-approval, a short inspection window and an appraisal-gap plan ready before you tour.
Townhouses: 76 conventional, 11 cash, 7 VA, 3 FHA, 2 other and 1 exchange or trade of 100. Mixed cash-and-loan deals were counted as financed.
The interesting facts
South Riding homes are listed as Chantilly, VA 20152, and 151 townhomes were rented this year.
Four things in the 2026 numbers that set South Riding apart.
Search the zip, not the name. Bright MLS lists nearly every South Riding home as Chantilly, VA 20152, and filed 3 of 2026's sales under "South Riding". A search for "South Riding" misses almost everything, and a search for "Chantilly" mixes in Fairfax County. Search 20152 and check the county on the tax record.
Plenty of townhomes to rent. 151 townhomes were leased in 2026, more than the 100 that sold, at a median of $3,195, less than Ashburn ($3,300), Leesburg ($3,250) or Brambleton ($3,600). If you buy one to live in, ask whether a tenant is in place and when the lease ends.
Same median as Leesburg, more house. South Riding and Leesburg both sold their median house for $1,140,000. In South Riding that bought about 4,400 square feet at $361 a foot; Leesburg buyers paid $373 a foot.
Rent or buy
A South Riding house costs 21.1 years of rent, a townhouse 18.4.
A South Riding house rents for a median of $4,500 a month and sells for $1,140,000, a price-to-rent ratio of 21.1; a townhome rents for $3,195 and sells for $707,000, a ratio of 18.4.1
| Measure | Houses | Townhomes |
|---|---|---|
| Homes rented | 33 | 151 |
| Median monthly rent | $4,500 | $3,195 |
| Average monthly rent | $4,649 | $3,190 |
| Median rent per square foot | $1.45 | $1.37 |
| Median days to lease | 23 | 22 |
| Gross rental yield | 4.7% | 5.4% |
| Rent range | $3,600 to $7,500 | $2,600 to $4,200 |
Gross yield is before the mortgage, tax, HOA, insurance and upkeep. The house ratio, 21.1, is lower than Ashburn's (22.0) or Leesburg's (22.4), and the lower the ratio, the sooner owning beats renting; a townhouse at 18.4 pays off sooner still. A family that plans to stay five years or more usually does better buying.
Own in South Riding already? 44% of houses sold above asking this year. Ahmed runs a real comparative analysis against the 197 sales on this page, not a website estimate.
The houses
More than 6,300 homes built since 1996 around a golf course, four pools and a town center.
South Riding was planned as one community and built from 1996 into the 2010s: houses and townhouses on curving streets, with its own town center, golf course and pools.
South Riding. More than 6,300 homes in all. The South Riding Golf Club, designed by Dan Maples, opened in 1997. The community has four outdoor pools and trails, and Loudoun County's Dulles South Recreation and Community Center adds indoor pools.
The HOA. Owners pay the master association, South Riding Proprietary, and usually a village or sub-association too. Dues vary by home type and village and pay for the pools, common areas, trails and community programs. Ask for the resale package before you offer.
Townhouses. 100 fee-simple townhouses sold at a median of $707,000. They cost $295 a foot, close to Brambleton ($297) and less than Ashburn ($320).
Next door. Stone Ridge, west on Route 50, uses Aldie addresses (20105) and is counted on the Aldie page, not here.
What to check. The county on the tax record; the master and village HOA dues and any special assessment; the age of the roof, windows and HVAC on a late-1990s house; which high school the address feeds after the 2026-27 changes; and, with Dulles Airport to the north, the flight paths at the hour you would be home.
Schools
Freedom High, inside South Riding, ranks #20 in Virginia on Niche.
South Riding is Loudoun County Public Schools, not Fairfax. Its own high school is Freedom, on Riding Center Drive, with J. Michael Lunsford Middle as a feeder, and from fall 2026 Freedom also takes some students from Lightridge and John Champe.3
#20
Freedom High School
On Riding Center Drive in South Riding, about 1,970 students. Niche #20 public high school in Virginia and US News #27 in Virginia. J. Michael Lunsford Middle feeds it.
#6
John Champe High School
A few minutes west in Aldie, opened in 2012, about 1,850 students. Niche #6 public high school in Virginia and US News #36 in Virginia.
New
Dulles South zones
Adopted for 2026-27 to relieve Willard and Mercer middle schools and Lightridge and John Champe, using space at Lunsford Middle and Freedom. A new high school, HS-14, is planned for 2028.
Program
Academies of Loudoun
LCPS's magnet campus in Leesburg, opened in 2018: the Academy of Engineering and Technology, the Academy of Science and the Monroe Advanced Technical Academy. Students apply.
Masjid
Madani Masjid
On Loudoun County Parkway in South Riding. Reviewers describe it as clean and roomy, with space for families.
Masjid
Gum Spring Road and Route 50
Zakaria Islamic Academy on Gum Spring Road, with daily prayer and Quran classes, and the Islamic Center of Chantilly on Route 50. ADAMS South Riding holds Friday prayer on Centerview Drive in Chantilly.
Halal
Indian Spice Food Market
On Southpoint Drive in 20152, a desi grocery with a halal butcher.
Halal
Cozmo One and Al Makkah Mart
East on Route 50 in Chantilly: Cozmo One on Sullyfield Circle, a Turkish bakery and halal grocery, and Al Makkah Mart on Lee Road, with hand-slaughtered zabihah meat.
If you are buying in South Riding, the high school on an older listing may not match the 2026-27 zones, and HS-14 will bring another round of changes in 2028. Check any address with the LCPS school locator, and ask Ahmed to confirm it before you offer.
Commute
Route 50 to Route 28 and I-66, 55 to 90 minutes to downtown DC, and a commuter bus from East Gate.
South Riding sits on Route 50 west of Route 28, the road to I-66 and the Dulles corridor. Loudoun County Parkway runs north toward Dulles Airport, the Dulles Greenway and the Silver Line at Ashburn.
| To | Drive | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown DC | 55 to 90 min | Route 50 to I-66 east, or the 281 commuter bus |
| Pentagon | 50 to 80 min | Route 50 to I-66 east, or the 282 commuter bus |
| Tysons | 35 to 50 min | Route 28 to the Dulles Toll Road, or I-66 |
| Dulles Airport | 10 to 20 min | Route 28 north, or Loudoun County Parkway |
| Silver Line, Ashburn station | 20 to 30 min | Loudoun County Parkway north |
Loudoun County Transit commuter buses leave the East Gate park-and-ride on Tall Cedars Parkway every weekday morning: route 281 runs to downtown DC and comes back in the afternoon as 681. Route 282, to Rosslyn, the Pentagon and Crystal City, leaves the Dulles South lot in Stone Ridge, a few minutes west, and returns as 682. Local route 381 serves South Riding and stops at East Gate.5 The I-66 Express Lanes are free for carpools of three with an E-ZPass Flex; the Dulles Greenway and the Dulles Toll Road charge tolls. Route 50 is slow at rush hour between South Riding and Route 28, so the distance to Route 28 matters more than the miles. Ahmed will do the 7:30 drive with you before you offer.
Daily life
A 1997 golf course, four outdoor pools and about $9,200 a year in county tax.
Outdoors and sights. The South Riding Golf Club runs through the community, with four outdoor pools, trails and the county's Dulles South Recreation and Community Center. The Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, with the Space Shuttle Discovery, is a short drive east and free to enter (parking is paid).
Food and groceries. Sense of Thai on Riding Plaza, Mehak in Pemberton Square, Pollo X & Halal Boyz in Peacock Market Plaza, and Milk & Honey, a Southern brunch kitchen, new at Eastern Marketplace. Indian Spice Food Market on Southpoint Drive has a halal butcher; Cozmo One and Al Makkah Mart are east on Route 50 in Chantilly.
Taxes.4 South Riding is unincorporated Loudoun County, so there is no town tax. The 2026 rate is $0.805 per $100, unchanged in the budget adopted April 7, 2026: about $9,200 a year on the $1,140,000 median house and $5,700 on a $707,000 townhouse, before HOA dues. At Fairfax County's rate of about $1.15 all in, the same house would pay about $13,100.
Car tax. Loudoun cut its vehicle tax to $3.09 per $100 of value for 2026, with $2.94 planned for 2027.
Where to eat
"Ahmed, where do you go to eat?" The South Riding list.
Up to five picks within about fifteen minutes of South Riding in each cuisine, the one doing best at the top, and halal marked. They are in South Riding's shopping centers, at Stone Ridge to the west, and east across the county line in Chantilly.7
None of these picks showed as closed on Yelp when checked in early October 2026. Not ranked yet: Milk & Honey at Eastern Marketplace is new, with about 30 Yelp reviews. 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
Move-up families, Dulles corridor workers and townhouse buyers, 84% of house buyers with a conventional loan.
Families trading a townhouse for a house, people who work along Route 28 and at Dulles Airport, first-time buyers in the townhouses, and military families: 12 of the 197 buyers used a VA loan, 5 for houses and 7 for townhouses.
Buyers choose South Riding over Aldie for about $209,000 less at the median and a shorter drive to Route 28, and over the Fairfax side of Chantilly for a newer, bigger house and a lower tax rate. They give up some of the drive east and pay HOA dues. If you are torn between South Riding and Brambleton or Ashburn, decide on the high school and the commute first; the price follows.
Questions
What people ask about South Riding.
How much does a house cost in South Riding, Virginia in 2026?
The median single-family home (3+ bedrooms, 2+ full baths) in South Riding sold for $1,140,000 in 2026 through October 2, across 97 sales in Bright MLS, at $361 per square foot. The median townhouse sold for $707,000 across 100 sales. South Riding homes are listed as Chantilly, VA 20152 in Loudoun County, and condominium-regime homes are not included. The house median matches Leesburg's and is below Ashburn ($1,186,700) and Aldie ($1,348,862).
How competitive is the South Riding housing market?
Busy but not frantic. In 2026, 44% of houses and 42% of townhouses sold above the asking price, and the median home of either kind went under contract in seven days. The median sold-to-list was exactly 100%, so most buyers paid the asking price rather than more.
Do South Riding buyers pay cash or use VA loans?
Few pay cash. In 2026, 7 of 97 house buyers paid cash (7.2%), 81 used a conventional loan and 5 a VA loan. Townhouses drew a little more cash, 11 of 100 (11.0%), and 7 VA loans. Cash buyers bought bigger houses, a median of $1,440,000 against $1,140,000 financed.
What is rent in South Riding, Virginia?
In 2026 the median single-family house leased for $4,500 a month across 33 leases, and the median townhome for $3,195 across 151 leases, more than the 100 townhouses that sold. Houses took a median of 23 days to lease and townhomes 22.
Is it better to rent or buy in South Riding?
A median house sells for 21.1 times its yearly rent and a townhouse for 18.4 times, gross yields of 4.7% and 5.4%. Both are below Ashburn's house ratio of 22.0, and the lower the ratio, the sooner owning beats renting, so a family that plans to stay five years or more usually does better buying.
Which high school serves South Riding?
South Riding is Loudoun County Public Schools. Freedom High on Riding Center Drive is the high school inside South Riding (Niche #20 public high school in Virginia, US News #27 in Virginia), with J. Michael Lunsford Middle as a feeder. Dulles South attendance zones changed for 2026-27 and a new high school is planned for 2028, so check any address with the LCPS school locator.
How long is the commute from South Riding to DC?
At 8 am on a weekday, downtown DC is about 55 to 90 minutes by car on Route 50 and I-66, the Pentagon 50 to 80, Tysons 35 to 50 and Dulles Airport 10 to 20. Loudoun County Transit commuter bus 281 runs to downtown DC from the East Gate park-and-ride on Tall Cedars Parkway, and 282 runs to Rosslyn, the Pentagon and Crystal City from the nearby Dulles South lot. These drive times are estimates.
What is the property tax in South Riding, Virginia?
South Riding is unincorporated Loudoun County, so there is no town tax. The 2026 Loudoun rate is $0.805 per $100, about $9,200 a year on a $1,140,000 house and about $5,700 on a $707,000 townhouse, before HOA dues. The vehicle tax is $3.09 per $100 for 2026 and is set to fall to $2.94 in 2027.
Ask Ahmed
Your Trusted Realtor in NOVA.
Tell me what you are looking for in South Riding.
Trading a South Riding townhouse for a house, choosing between South Riding and the Fairfax side of Chantilly, or selling where 44% of 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 South Riding, how Ahmed helps a family weigh it against Brambleton, Aldie or the Fairfax side of Chantilly, and the first thing Ahmed checks on a listing (the high school after the 2026-27 changes, and the master and village HOA package).
دليل شمال فرجينيا
السكن في ساوث رايدنغ، فرجينيا.
ساوث رايدنغ مجمّع سكني مخطط في مقاطعة لاودن، لكن عنوانه البريدي شانتيلي 20152. بلغ السعر الوسطي للبيت المستقل 1,140,000 دولار في 2026، وللتاون هاوس 707,000 دولار.
البيوت هنا كبيرة، نحو 4,400 قدم مربع، وسعر القدم 361 دولار، وهو أرخص من الجانب التابع لفيرفاكس في شانتيلي (424 دولار). بلغت المدة الوسطية حتى توقيع العقد سبعة أيام، وبيعت 44% من البيوت بأكثر من السعر المطلوب. المدرسة الثانوية: فريدم هاي داخل ساوث رايدنغ. لا توجد ضريبة بلدة، لكن ضريبة مقاطعة لاودن 0.805 دولار لكل 100، أي نحو 9,200 دولار سنوياً على البيت الوسطي، عدا رسوم جمعية الملاك (HOA). يقع مسجد مدني على شارع لاودن كاونتي باركوي، وفي متجر إنديان سبايس على شارع ساوثبوينت قصاب حلال. جميع الأرقام من Bright MLS، مبيعات مغلقة من 1 يناير إلى 2 أكتوبر 2026.
قبل أن تقدّم عرضاً، ابحث بالرمز البريدي 20152 لا باسم ساوث رايدنغ، وتأكد من المدرسة ومن رسوم جمعية الملاك (HOA). هل تحتار بين ساوث رايدنغ وبرامبلتون أو الجانب التابع لفيرفاكس من شانتيلي؟ أرسل لي تفاصيل وضعك، وسأحسب معك أرقامك الحقيقية، بالعربية أو بالإنجليزية.
وكيلك العقاري الموثوق في شمال فرجينيا.
Aldie
Five bedrooms, 4,868 sq ft.
$1.349M
Median house, 2026
Chantilly
Two in three sold over asking.
$923.7K
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
Brambleton
Every house $950K to $1.575M.
$1.205M
Median house, 2026
بالعربية
Every step, in Arabic.
بالعربية أو بالإنجليزية، كما تفضّل