Town by Town: Good schools, taxes make Berlin enticing

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

There are those who might observe that a visit to Berlin, N.J., was "long-a-coming."

This Camden County borough was originally known by that name, attributed alternatively to shipwrecked sailors looking for a brook with clean water, to stagecoach travelers stopping here on an otherwise boring ride from Philadelphia to the Shore, or, most likely, to the Leni-Lenape and the Lonaconing Trail from the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean, as the historic marker notes.

The town became Berlin in 1867, with a post office and a stop on the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railroad. (There is a Berlin Township, by the way, from which the borough was carved in a 1927 referendum.)

Yet the name Long-A-Coming remains on the lips of children, because it's the name of the summer camp the borough operates at the local community center.

Two days after late January's near-blizzard, Berlin itself was not long-a-coming via Route 561, but a parking space certainly was tough to find.

Once a spot opened up in the White Horse Pike business district, hiking over snowbanks in boots and ice creepers was as much fun as free-swim day at summer camp.

The operative word on real estate in Berlin is affordable.

"You can buy a 1,400-square-foot house for under $200,000, with reasonable taxes and a great school system," says Val Nunnenkamp, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Fox & Roach Realtors in Marlton.

Nunnenkamp, who grew up here in the 1960s and early 1970s, is well-versed in the recent history of real estate in Berlin - also famous for TV personality Kelly Ripa, the iconic New Berlin Diner, and what may be the oldest railroad station in the state, which has been restored to what it looked like in the early 20th century by the Long-A-Coming Historical Society.

Real estate here seems to hold its value.

"One of the first housing developments in Berlin was Belair Estates along New Freedom Road in the late 1950s," he says. For $10,000 in 1959, "you got a split level with the three choices of siding colors."

In "superb condition" today, the same houses sell for $225,000; the average is about $200,000, $170,000 if a house needs work, Nunnenkamp says.

A four-bedroom, 21/2-bath, 1,833-square-foot split level in Belair Estates is for sale for $209,900.

The Woods, built in 1969, remains popular with buyers, he says.

The original builder completed 11 homes before becoming ill, and John B. Canuso took over, starting with a 4,000-square-foot English Tudor-style home, Nunnenkamp says.

Homes in the Woods sold originally for $29,000 to $55,000 - pricey for the late 1960s - and remain popular, going for $225,000 to $325,000, he says.

Twenty houses, priced from $45,000 to $430,000, have been sold in Berlin since Nov. 1, sales data show. Pending are 13 sales, at prices ranging from $29,900 to $349,900.

There have been some distressed sales in the borough, which, like most South Jersey communities, did not escape the collapse of the housing bubble.

Data from Trend Multiple Listing Service provided by Nunnenkamp show 37 active listings in Berlin Borough, ranging from $44,900 for a single, detached one-bedroom, one-bath on Jefferson Avenue to $401,900 for new construction on Clementon Road built by Schaeffer Homes.

The Schaeffers have been building in Berlin since the early 1990s, Nunnenkamp says, starting with Smokey Run, where a three-bedroom, 11/2-bath townhouse is on the market for $169,000.

"They introduced townhouses to Berlin Borough and have built three or four multifamily communities along Berlin-Cross Keys Road," Nunnenkamp says.

They also have several high-end communities and are just finishing up six houses off Clementon Road, including the $401,900 listing, he says.

Berlin "is a great little town," Nunnenkamp says, though it has changed since he was growing up.

"The hotel is gone, but the farmers market is still here," he says. "I can still remember the line on Sunday morning at Bepels Berlin Bakery - just like you still see at McMillan's in Westmont."

aheavens@phillynews.com

215-854-2472@alheavens