Chantilly, VA – Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. is proud to announce the release of its new and exclusive Luxury Homes Search, adding to its already versatile portfolio of high performance tools for consumers. The new search allows customers looking for a high-end property in the Mid-Atlantic region to perform criteria based searches, as well as to browse numerous properties. "We wanted to produce an exclusive search that provided a simple and dedicated interface for those people in search of a luxury property", said Michael Koval, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. "The search is truly unique because of the elegant layout, quality photography and wealth of information provided."

A luxury home might include different characteristics for different people — a gourmet kitchen, pitched wood-beam ceilings, an indoor spa, or an infinity-edge pool. Although all of these can be used to describe a luxury residence, the technical criteria is that the home is valued at more than $1,000,000. Of course a $1 million home in San Francisco and one in Kansas City are not going to be comparable in size and amenities! But, in general, this price minimum allows for the clear designation of an upper-tier residential market.

Ironically, luxury homes are not feeling the current economic crunch as much as most other sectors of the housing market. This is largely because the availability of luxury homes is limited, meaning that only a small amount of extraordinary properties are up for sale at any one time. Another contributing factor is that these homes are often well maintained and frequently updated, which allows them to hold their value better and remain competitive in a slow market.

Long & Foster is a leader in real estate technology innovation. The new Luxury Homes Search is just one more way Long & Foster is leading the way.