In Northern Virginia, a data center company recently paid $6.3 million per acre for land. Median land prices in that same county: about $125,000 an acre.
That’s not a builder losing a bidding war. It’s a builder never getting to bid at all.
As NAHB’s recent land-use research shows, this isn’t a regional anomaly. From Illinois to Texas to Nevada, AI infrastructure spending—projected to reach north of $300 billion in 2025 alone—is absorbing land that would otherwise be used for housing. A builder’s land budget is capped by what buyers can afford. A data center’s isn’t.
The result isn’t pricier homes on that land. It’s no homes at all.
What makes this harder to stomach: Virginia’s data center industry has saved an estimated $2.7 billion in tax exemptions since 2015. Builders have received no comparable support to compete for the land they need.
This is a land economics story before it’s a housing story—and it’s one builders can’t out-market their way around. It’s a policy fight, and so far, builders haven’t been the ones leading it.
Read NAHB’s full article: How AI Data Centers Are Outbidding Home Builders for America’s Land
