The median cost for a home in Northern Virginia was $449,000 in February, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors. What does that mean for the Alexandria homebuyer? What will $449,000 buy?

On March 27, Realtors.com listed six dwellings for that exact sum.

As in all price ranges, except for the very highest, the three single-family houses were older than the condo apartments and townhouses.

All the single-family homes were built in the mid-1950s, on lots of about a quarter acre each. The only two-story dwelling, in Virginia Hills, dates from 1955, with four bedrooms and two baths. The others were built in 1954 and 1955, respectively, in Mount Vernon Woods and Parklawn. They have three bedrooms each, plus two and 1.5 baths, respectively.

The newest property was a townhouse built in 1992 at Kingstowne, with two bedrooms and three baths. The other townhouse, at Westridge, dates from 1968, with three bedrooms and three baths.

The one condo (on the cover) has two bedrooms and baths. It was built in 1970 at the Marina Towers high rise in North Old Town.

The same trend held true through neighboring Fairfax County.

Twelve of the 20 Fairfax County units were built between 1955 and 1980. They included seven single-family homes and five townhouses. Twelve of the total had three bedrooms, another four had four, and the others had two each.

The five units built before 1970 were all single-family homes. Four were constructed between 1955 and 1959 in Springfield. A single-family home in Herndon dates from 1965.

These houses stand on lots measuring about one-quarter acre each.

Six of the listings date from 1970s. They include two single-family homes in Burke plus townhouses in Burke, Annandale, Oakton and Reston.

From 1980 to the present, listings for townhouses and condos appear much more frequently. The choices include the newest single-family house, built in 1994 in Centreville, and the oldest listed condo, constructed 12 years later at the Encore of McLean. Two townhouses were also built, in Fairfax and Springfield, respectively.

For the current decade, all but one of the offerings are Reston condos, with two bedrooms and  two baths.

A Centreville townhouse was built three years ago, making it the only listing from the current decade that is not a condo apartment.