The Long & Foster Cos. on Monday reported October sales for all of its companies totaled $4.6 billion, an increase of 24 percent over October 2003. The company said it was the best October in its 36-year history.
Long & Foster sales continued strong for the first ten months of 2004, and they are up a dramatic 30 percent year-to-date-over last year’s record levels, the company reported.
The numbers include: Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. with October sales of $3.2 billion, up 24 percent on 10,081 property transactions; Prosperity Mortgage, the firm’s mortgage affiliate, which reported $297 million in volume of business, up 18 percent, and Long & Foster Insurance, $263 million, up 11 percent. Strong numbers were also posted by company-affiliate Mid-States Title with $809 million for the month, up 13 percent over the previous October.
“Mortgage rates are at their lowest level in six months, spurring sales of new and existing homes,” said Wes Foster, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Long & Foster Cos. “The market has cooled some as it usually does this time of year, making this an excellent time to buy,” he said. “I expect sales throughout the rest of the year to continue strong making this another record year for our firm,” Foster concluded.
All of Long & Foster’s 10 regions posted increases for October. They were: Virginia/West Virginia (42 offices) was up 21 percent to $954 million; the overall Baltimore, Md./Southern Pa. region (46 offices) was up 28 percent to $605 million; Washington, D.C. (11 offices) was up 28 percent to $252 million; Suburban Maryland (19 offices) was up 23 percent to $517 million; Western Maryland (8 offices) was up 17 percent to $64 million; the Eastern Shore region (14 offices) was up 12 percent to $116 million; the Hampton Roads, Va., region (11 offices) was up 46 percent to $121 million; the Richmond region (20 offices) was up 7 percent to $177 million; the Southern Maryland region (16 offices) was up 14 percent to $178 million; and the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley region (16 offices) was up 26 percent to $130 million. Long & Foster’s new Southwestern Virginia region with (6 offices) posted a sales volume of $52 million.
The top five sales offices in the company for October, and based on sales volume, were: Bethesda/Gateway, Md., ($94 million); and in Virginia: McLean ($69 million); Fair Oaks ($62 million); and a tie between Burke/Fairfax Station/Clifton/Lorton ($56 million) and Reston ($56 million).
The Long & Foster Cos. has more than 200 sales offices and 14,000 sales associates throughout Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina, New Jersey and the District of Columbia.
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