Cherry Hill, NJ - Real Estate Spotlight
As of the 2010 United States Census, the township of Cherry Hill had a population of 71,045 and was the 15th most-populous municipality in the state of New Jersey which made it the second-largest in Camden County behind Camden, the county seat. The 2010 population number represented an increase of 1.5% over that the 69,965 counted in the 2000 Census which, at that time, also listed this township as the state's 13th on the list of most populous municipalities. Cherry Hill is thought of by many, as an "edge city" of Philadelphia based on the geographical space it occupies in the Delaware Valley coastal plain approximately 8 miles southeast of that city.
In the “Summary for Cherry Hill” section of its Real Estate Overview page about this area's real estate activity, Trulia indicates that from October 13th 2013 to January 14th 2014 the median sales price for homes sold locally was $221,500 based on 28 home sales; but this price was comparatively lower to the same period from October 2012 to January 2013. While there could be a number of reasons to explain this decrease during a time of increased population, the one that seems most reasonable is that this community was among those which suffered loss of equity in the form of declining values resulting from the recession of recent years.
Currently there are 387 homes listed for sale in the Cherry Hill community with 593 having been recently sold and 386 foreclosures – including pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process – the last figure being another aftermath of the nationwide economy that is slowly emerging from that crises. Similarly indicative of a sluggish recovery is the aforementioned median sales price figure of $221,500 from October 2013 to January 2014 which is a $6,000 decrease representing -2.6% growth year-over-year.
Cherry Hill might not be thought of as affluent in the same way that – say for example – Mountain Lakes in Bergen County, Essex Fells in Essex County or even Upper Saddle in Bergen County, but neither is it considered a low to moderate income community, an observation evidenced by the median household income of $88,183 (margin of error +/- $2,748) as reported by the Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey, and a median family income of $105,786 (margin of error +/- $2,321) for the same period. Both income figures were calculated in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned statistics, Cherry Hill township is a stable community – having experienced explosive growth between World War II and the 1980s – with new development occurring more often than not in pockets of custom luxury homes and at times, through the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of commercial and industrial areas. However, with close proximity to Philadelphia or Camden (half hour commute) and within an hour to Trenton and Princeton, most adult citizens of Cherry Hill work outside the township with a small number of individuals commuting to Atlantic City.
In a 2006 Money Magazine survey (conducted annually) of the best places to live in America, Cherry Hill was on the list at number 47, outranking “some tough competition” based on a range of criteria utilized, which ranged from family income to crime rates. That year's list included larger towns and cities with populations of at least 50,000 but not more than 300,000. And there is still a strong case to be made today that Cherry Hill is as good a place to live as it was at the time of that survey, based on criteria which still exist today, some of which were discussed in this article.
In the Money Magazine survey Cherry Hill ranked well above the national average in median family income (then $88,401), yet had relatively affordable housing. Its median home price of $257,000 then was lower than the magazine's best places average of $259,566; and Cherry Hill shone in the quality-of-life category, with only seven of the ranked cities having a lower overall risk of crime, according to data compiled by the magazine that year.
Then Mayor Bernie Platt was “very proud of the ranking”, saying that “...It's a boon for what we want to do to raise our profile nationally...” and Money Magazine reporter Donna Rosato said there “...are things (in Cherry Hill) that encourage people to stay there on the weekends”, and Mayor Platt agreed, adding that “Cherry Hill is a great place to raise a family, work, shop and play.” The updated (2014) version of Cherry Hill is still a great place to raise a family, work, shop and play by anyone's standards.
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