Cinnaminson, a place where you can buy, and buy again

One in a continuing series spotlighting real estate markets in the region's communities.

Roseanne Gentile remembers what drew her and her family to Cinnaminson 32 years ago.

They are the same things that continue to draw buyers, especially first-timers, to this Burlington County community today: schools and proximity to Philadelphia.

"While information now available for people looking for a house is much greater than it was that long ago," those lures never change, says Gentile, a Weichert Realtors agent in Moorestown who has been selling real estate in Burlington and Camden Counties for 28 years.

"Even if you don't have any school-age children, buying in a town with a good school district is a good long-term investment," she says.

The fact that Gentile bought a house here three decades ago and subsequently sold it and built the house she lives in now "says a lot about the quality of life in Cinnaminson," the agent says.

Over the last two years, a large number of her buyers have been people age 26 to 35 who grew up in Cinnaminson but have been living in Philadelphia neighborhoods such as Manayunk.

"They grew up and they want to come back to raise a family, but they want to be close enough to the city to enjoy all of the amenities they've gotten used to," Gentile says.

"You can get to Center City in 20 minutes" via the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge and then I-95 South "when there's no construction," she says, and it's 30 minutes to Philadelphia International Airport.

A lot of buyers are from Northeast Philadelphia "because they can remain close to it from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge," Gentile notes.

In addition to its convenience and school district - graduating classes at Cinnaminson High School are still 200 or fewer, she says - "we still have farms and farm stands just 20 minutes from Philadelphia."

"It is quiet, safe, friendly, and community-oriented," Gentile says.

Val Nunnenkamp, of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Fox & Roach Realtors in Marlton, calls Cinnaminson "a $200,000-to-$700,000 town."

"It has a nice reputation, nice little neighborhoods," Nunnenkamp says. "The older communities are split-levels and two-story homes that were popular with buyers who worked for RCA in Camden and couldn't afford Moorestown."

First-time buyers can pick up a townhouse at Cinnaminson Harbor along the Delaware River in the low- to mid-$200,000 range, Gentile says, or a four-bedroom/two-bath single detached house for $250,000 to $300,000.

"If the house is in great shape, it will come in at closer to $350,000," she says.

Meadowview, Cinnaminson Crossing, and Poet's Walk are perhaps 15 years old, she notes, and offer bigger homes - 2,600 to 3,200 square feet on larger lots for $400,000 to $600,000.

"This is not a transient community," Gentile says. "A lot of people moved here when the town was being built in the 1960s, and many did what we did and moved to a bigger house when they outgrew it."

When homeowners downsize and wish to remain in Cinnaminson, there are the over-55 communities Sweetwater and Westfield Leas, Gentile says. The homes they sell often are the ones being purchased by first-time buyers.

"I feel sorry for today's buyers," she says. "They don't have money to cover down payments and closing costs and are under a lot of student debt."

Cinnaminson Harbor was the first community built here with townhouses and condos not for those over 55, and a lot of first-time buyers are attracted to it.

It's also close to public transit: The River Line runs from Camden (where riders can get the PATCO High-Speed Line to Philadelphia) to Trenton (and NJ Transit and Amtrak connections to New York City).

Cinnaminson is "pretty much built out," Gentile says, with two communities completed in the last two years numbering a total of 30 to 40 houses.

"About a year ago, I sold a building lot on Evergreen Terrace near the [Riverton Country Club] golf course for $145,000," Nunnenkamp says.

About five years ago, he says, he sold the "beautifully restored" 18th-century Harmony Hall on Riverton Road.

Cinnaminson "has a really good reputation," Nunnenkamp says.

aheavens@phillynews.com
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@alheavens

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Population: 16,651 (2015)

Median household income: $99,601

Area: 8.061 square miles

Settlements in the last three months: 70

Homes for sale: 64

Average days on the market: 76

Median sale price: $237,502

Housing stock: 5,758 units; all styles and eras

School district: Cinnaminson

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau; Val Nunnenkamp; Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Fox & Roach HomExpert Market ReportEndText