Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., the largest independent residential real estate company in the United States, announced that its parent company, The Long & Foster Companies, based in Chantilly, Va., was again ranked among the top brokerages in the nation based on total closed sales volume in 2013. The ranking was published in the latest REAL Trends 500, an annual ranking of top real estate brokerages, distributed by REAL Trends, Inc., a leading source of statistical analysis for the residential real estate industry.

The Long & Foster Companies – the nation’s largest privately held brokerage – was ranked as the third largest of all brokerages in the nation, based on a total closed sales volume of $26.1 billion in 2013. In addition, the company was ranked as the third largest brokerage based on its 73,202 closed transaction sides – the number of closed sales in which a Long & Foster sales associate represented the seller, the buyer or both parties.

“Our latest ranking among our industry peers reflects Long & Foster’s continued commitment to providing our customers with integrity, innovation and world-class customer service,” said Jeffrey S. Detwiler, president and chief operating officer of The Long & Foster Companies. “A large part of the success of the Long & Foster family is our investment in ensuring that our agents are armed with the very best training, tools and support in the industry to do what they do best – serve the needs of home buyers and sellers in a constantly changing real estate market.

“At Long & Foster, our team of highly successful and professional agents knows that it’s not just about helping people buy or sell a home – it’s about being able to provide the total homeownership experience and support their customers throughout the buying or selling process as they achieve their dreams,” Detwiler said. “This long-standing commitment to having the best trained and most knowledgeable sales associates in the industry has helped Long & Foster to reach incredible sales milestones and cement our status as a leader among real estate firms.”

The REAL Trends 500 identifies the 500 largest real estate brokerages in the United States, ranked by closed transactions and closed sales volume.