Year To Date

This chart and map track recent movements in single-family home sales in Harford County by ZIP Code. The chart lists sales volume and median price for June 1991, the most recent month available, and for all of 1990, and compares those figures to 1990 statistics.Year-to-date median figures were not used because they would have reflected only one month of data. Instead the chart includes sales and price information for 1990 and comparisons to 1989, which offer a more complete indication of sales trends.

The Sun is introducing a number of changes in the Business section today as part of its redesign of the Sunday newspaper.Staff writer Jay Hancock's Economy column and staff writer Bill Atkinson's Investing column will appear on the Business front page on alternate Sundays. The Outlook column, which brings readers diverse viewpoints on a timely issue or event, will now be found inside the Business section. Michael Himowitz's Computing column is moving to The Sun's new technology section, Plugged In, which will appear on Mondays, beginning tomorrow.

Long & Foster Cos. reported total sales of $2.8 billion and home sales of $1.9 billion for last month, the best September in the company's 34-year history. Long & Foster's real estate sales have been up consistently in the first nine months of this year, and they are up 24 percent year-to-date over last year's record levels. "Thanks to the lowest mortgage rates in over 40 years, we continue to experience a very strong housing market and what will be, at year end, the best year ever for Long & Foster," said Wes Foster, president of Long & Foster.

Allegheny Energy Inc. said yesterday that its second-quarter net income jumped 70 percent to $121.3 million, from $71.5 million in last year's second quarter. On a per-share basis, earnings were a record $1.01 vs. 65 cents a year earlier, handily beating analysts' estimates of 76 cents a share. Earnings per share were reduced by 8 cents because of the sale of 14.26 million common shares in May. The Hagerstown-based energy company attributed the increase in earnings mainly to added revenue from its energy-trading business, Allegheny Energy Global Markets, which it acquired from Merrill Lynch in March.

A Glen Burnie woman's savings savvy has landed her an appearance on the reality show "Extreme Couponing. " People can tune in to TLC, starting tonight, to see Zadia Hardy, a 37-year-old project manager, work her magic at the cash register. On her episode, which was filmed over two days at Saubel's Market in Whiteford, Hardy finds a way to buy frozen vegetables, which usually cost about $3 a bag, for just 17 cents. She got about 90 of them. She also gets seasoning mixes for free and brings home more than 100 of those.

Future-construction home contracts in Md. down 8% in September Contracts for future residential construction in Maryland for September dropped 8 percent to $226.6 million from $245.3 million when compared with the corresponding period last year, according to statistics from F. W. Dodge, a publisher of construction market reports. Residential construction includes single- and two-family houses, and apartments. However, year-to-date construction contract figures are 19 percent higher than in 1999, $2.78 billion vs. $2.34 billion.

Invesco Telecommunications Fund continues to show a knack for surfing the big waves.With a nearly 45 percent year-to-date return through mid- August, this fund has raced past most of its communications peers. Those results flow from the aggressive, go-anywhere style of manager Brian Hayward. Two of his main requirements for potential buys are industry-leading top-line growth and improving margins. He also uses themes to focus on fast-growing areas: Deregulation, surging data traffic, and the move to wireless are all areas of emphasis.

The Harford County real estate market, which skyrocketed t dizzying heights in 1988 and 1989, made a soft landing in 1990.The median price of county homes rose a comparatively modest 4 percent and total sales were up 6 percent for the full year, according to data collected by Rufus S. Lusk & Son Inc.That's a far cry from the 11 percent and 12 percent rises registered the preceding two years, said Joan Ryder, president of the Harford County Association of...

The value of planned commercial and other nonresidential construction in the Baltimore area more than doubled in October, as compared to a year ago, according to building permit figures compiled by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council.But October's $14.8 million worth of activity -- a 144.5 percent increase -- belies year-to-date results, which fell 45.3 percent to $162.9 million through the first 10 months of 1994 over the same period last year.The figures indicate that while the local commercial real estate market has been improving, the rebound has yet to result in significant new construction.