55+ and Active Adult Communities in Greater Princeton

By Charlie Wu, Realtor since 2015 · Updated Oct 25, 2026

Around Princeton, "55+" covers everything from a one-bedroom condominium flat to a detached house inside a country club, and from a 1995 resale to a townhouse the builder is still finishing. This guide lists the named age-restricted communities with recorded sales in the area, what homes there actually sold for, what the monthly fees look like, and what to check before you buy.

If you are still deciding whether to sell the family home at all, start with our downsizing guide, which runs the sell, rent or stay numbers. This page picks up once the answer is "buy something smaller, in a 55+ community."

Sales figures come from BrightMLS closed sales. Every closed-sale figure on this page covers one window, the 12 months from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026. A sale counts as 55+ when the MLS flags it as part of a senior community. Because buyers of 55+ homes shop across central New Jersey, this page covers 55+ communities across 13 school districts (West Windsor-Plainsboro shown together, then split into West Windsor and Plainsboro), ordered by the number of 55+ sales. Hopewell means the Hopewell district: Hopewell Township, Hopewell Borough and Pennington Borough. Districts are the MLS school district; Monroe Township and the two Middlesex school district values are kept as the MLS records them.

What "55+" means in New Jersey

Age-restricted communities rely on the federal Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA), which lets a community that meets its 55-or-older requirements limit who may live there, as an exception to the usual fair-housing rules on families with children. The federal law sets the test for the community as a whole. The rules you actually live under come from each association's master deed, bylaws and rules.

In the communities below, the common rule is that at least one resident of each home must be 55 or older. Past that, the details differ. Traditions at Federal Point, Ventana at Lawrenceville, Elements at West Windsor and Tapestry at Montgomery each state on their pages that no permanent resident may be under 19. Townhomes at Riverwalk allows a limited share of homes to be occupied by qualified residents as young as 48. How the rules treat a younger spouse, an adult child moving in, long visits from grandchildren or renting the home out is set by each association, so read that specific association's documents rather than assuming one community works like the next.

Two terms are worth separating. "Active adult" usually means an age-restricted community of owned homes with a clubhouse and a social calendar. "Independent living" can mean a community whose monthly fee also pays for services such as meals and housekeeping. Neither is assisted living or a continuing-care community, which provide care and are outside the scope of this guide.

A note on what these numbers can and cannot see. Every figure on this page comes from homes that closed. Listings that expired, were withdrawn or were canceled are not in it, and across the seven school districts that is about three listings in ten: of the sale listings that ended between October 2025 and September 2026, 71 percent closed and 29 percent ended without a sale. Days on market and the share of homes that sell quickly or above list are therefore figures for homes that sold, and they make the market look faster than it feels to a seller. See the full breakdown by school district.

The communities, with 12 months of sales

These are the named age-restricted communities with closed sales in the MLS from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026, grouped by school district and ordered by the number of 55+ sales in the district. Where the page has a neighborhood page for a community, the name links to it for current listings and recent sales. Under each name are the town, the typical number of bedrooms and the median year built; under each price is the number of sales. Rows marked "small sample" have fewer than five sales and describe a handful of homes, not a trend.

Notes. Several communities appear under more than one MLS subdivision spelling (for example Village Grande at Bear Creek, Highlands at Cranbury Brook, Clearbrook, Rossmoor and Greenbriar at Whittingham); the spellings are combined in their rows. Pennington Point combines its Hopewell Township and Pennington Borough sales. Traditions at Federal Point and Pennington Point each include a small number of deed-restricted affordable units that sell far below market, and these medians include every recorded sale. Princeton Manor (South Brunswick) is a separate community from the Princeton Manor neighborhoods in West Windsor and Plainsboro; the MLS flags these 12 detached sales as age-restricted, so confirm the status of any specific address in the association documents. Greenbriar at Whittingham and Regency at Monroe each have one sale recorded under a Middlesex school district value, and one Village Grande at Bear Creek sale is recorded under East Windsor Regional Schools; they are shown in their own district rows. Ten Monroe Township sales with no community name, one Robbinsville sale and six West Windsor sales with no subdivision recorded are counted in the district tables below but are not shown as community rows.

Home type and age explain most of the spread. Among communities with at least five sales, medians ran from $217,500 at Carriage Park at Lawrenceville, where the recorded sales were mostly condominium flats, to $870,000 at Princeton Manor (South Brunswick), where they were detached houses. The newer detached communities, including Village Grande at Bear Creek, Four Seasons at Brandon Farms, Wellington Manor, Enchantment, Stonebridge and Princeton Manor (South Brunswick), all sit above $600,000, while the older Monroe communities Rossmoor, Concordia and Clearbrook (median year built 1975 to 1983) sit between $305,000 and $380,000. Age runs from Rossmoor (1975) to Townhomes at Riverwalk and Regency at West Windsor, which are still new construction.

Fees vary as much as prices. Among the same communities with at least five sales, and leaving out Princeton Windrows, the median HOA ran from $210 a month at Evergreen in Hamilton Township to $729 at Venue at Cobblestone Creek. A fee on its own says little until you know what it pays for, which is covered further down.

Princeton Windrows is a different product

Princeton Windrows, in Plainsboro with a Princeton mailing address, looks like a large 55+ condominium in the sales data: 25 closings in the 12 months, typically two bedrooms, at a median of $540,000. What makes it different is the monthly fee. According to its neighborhood page, owners pay roughly $2,050 to $6,050 a month depending on the size of the residence, with a median near $3,270, and that fee bundles a meal plan, weekly housekeeping, transportation and routine home maintenance along with the grounds and amenities.

That is why the table shows no HOA figure for it, and why its fee should not be compared with an HOA. The fair comparison is the fee against an HOA plus what you would otherwise spend on meals, housekeeping and getting around. Windrows is independent living in homes that residents own. It is not assisted living or a continuing-care community.

Its sales range is also wide, from $128,000 to $950,000, covering small studios up to the largest villas and townhomes, so the $540,000 median blends very different homes. Over the 12 months, Windrows sales took a median of 54 days on market and closed at 94.0 percent of original list, so buyers there have usually had time and some room to negotiate. At the time of writing it held 23 of Plainsboro's 31 active 55+ listings.

By school district: the 12 months to September 30, 2026

Price and monthly fees, with the number of 55+ sales under each median, districts ordered by the number of 55+ sales. West Windsor-Plainsboro is the district total; the West Windsor and Plainsboro rows are "of which" rows and are not added again:

Speed and competition, with the number of 55+ listings active at the time of writing under each district:

Notes. Days on market is the median MLS figure. Sale-to-list compares the sale price with the original list price. Plainsboro's and the district's price and days include Princeton Windrows, but the HOA medians exclude the Windrows service fee, so they rest on 11 of Plainsboro's 36 sales and 50 of the district's 75. Rows marked "small sample" rest on fewer than 25 sales. "Active now" is the count of 55+ listings with active status at the time of writing.

Monroe Township had the most 55+ sales, 84, followed by Hamilton Township with 80 and West Windsor-Plainsboro with 75 (39 in West Windsor and 36 in Plainsboro). Among the four districts with at least 25 sales, days on market ran from 32.5 in Lawrence to 42 in Monroe Township, and sale-to-list from 97.0 percent in West Windsor-Plainsboro to 98.3 percent in Hamilton Township. Inside West Windsor-Plainsboro, West Windsor took 28 days and closed at 100.0 percent of original list, while Plainsboro took 52.5 days and 95.5 percent, with Princeton Windrows alone at 54 days and 94.0 percent. Hopewell (10.5 days, 102.1 percent) and Montgomery (9.5 days, 101.1 percent) were quicker still, but on 16 and 6 sales, so treat those as small samples; the districts with one sale each are shown only for completeness. Part of the longer time in Plainsboro and West Windsor is new construction: at Regency at West Windsor and Townhomes at Riverwalk, as the Regency page explains, days on market start when the builder releases a lot rather than when a finished house comes to market. For a buyer, longer times and sales under the original list price simply mean less competition and more room to negotiate on the right home.

How 55+ prices sit against the rest of each school district

Comparing the 55+ median with the median of the rest of each district's closed sales (resale townhouses and condos built before 2024, and detached homes built before 2024, none of them age-restricted), over the same 12 months. Districts are ordered by the number of 55+ sales. West Windsor-Plainsboro is the district total; the West Windsor and Plainsboro rows are "of which" rows. "None recorded" means no such sale in the window:

In eight of the nine districts that have both a townhouse median and a detached median, the 55+ median sits between the two. That fits the stock: much of the 55+ inventory is detached houses, which the townhouse median by definition leaves out. Three sit close to an edge: Hamilton Township is within about $5,000 of the detached median, Plainsboro is within about $5,000 of the townhouse figure because Princeton Windrows' flats and studios are in the mix, and South Brunswick is within about $10,000 of the detached median. Monroe Township is the exception: its 55+ median ($418,750) is below both its townhouse ($687,500, 12 sales) and detached ($985,000, 41 sales) medians, and its 55+ sales are concentrated in communities with a median year built from 1975 to 1996. Several districts have few 55+ sales (Franklin, Robbinsville and Montgomery rest on 1, 1 and 6).

Per above-grade square foot, 55+ homes closed below resale townhouses in West Windsor ($291 against $360), Plainsboro ($313 against $350), South Brunswick ($289 against $354), Monroe Township ($274 against $321) and Montgomery ($313 against $370, on 6 sales). In Lawrence the two were equal at $268, and in Hamilton Township ($286 against $268) and Hopewell ($320 against $298, on 16 sales) the 55+ figure was higher. Two cautions: the 55+ figures include new construction while the townhouse figures cover resales built before 2024, and the monthly fee is part of the real cost of any of these homes.

What to check before you buy

The fee, what it covers and where it has been. Ask for the current budget, the reserve study and any planned special assessment, and get the list of what the association maintains: exteriors, roofs, landscaping, snow, the clubhouse. Fees in older communities tend to rise. Our community pages record, for example, Clubside at Cherry Valley moving from about $251 a month on 2019 to 2022 sales to roughly $438 to $453, and Ventana at Lawrenceville from $475 on 2019 sales to $640.

The age rule, in writing. Who counts as the qualifying resident, whether a younger spouse can stay if the older one dies or moves to care, whether adult children or a caregiver can live in the home, and how long guests under the minimum age may stay.

Resale and rental rules. Whoever buys from you later must also meet the age rule, so the future buyer pool is 55+ households. Ask whether leasing is allowed, whether a fee is charged to the buyer at each transfer, and look at how long homes in that community have taken to sell.

Amenity costs beyond the HOA. At Clubside at Cherry Valley, club membership is bought separately and is not a condition of owning the home, per its page. At Venue at Cobblestone Creek, residents have access to the Cobblestone Creek Country Club, and its page advises confirming membership terms and the association fee in writing. At Regency at West Windsor, the clubhouse and pool were still future amenities when its page was written. Our golf communities guide covers club dues and membership in more detail.

The layout of the specific home. Single-floor living is a common reason to shop 55+, but do not assume it holds for every plan in a community. Ask where the primary bedroom and laundry are, whether there is a second floor or loft, and whether there are steps at the entry or from the garage, and confirm it on the house you are buying.

The age of the systems. Many of these communities were built between 1995 and 2008, which puts roofs, HVAC and water heaters at or past a first replacement. In New Jersey the order matters: the contract is signed, attorney review runs three business days, the deposit is paid once review concludes, and only then does the inspection period begin, with findings negotiated as a repair request, a credit or a price reduction. Order the radon test with the general inspection. Our guides to attorney review and common inspection findings walk through both.

New 55+ construction

Our new-construction pages currently list four age-restricted communities in the region. Regency at West Windsor, a townhome community, is on the West Windsor new construction page, and Townhomes at Riverwalk is on the Plainsboro new construction page. Springside Lofts 55+, an age-restricted condominium loft building with estimated completion in late 2027, is on the Robbinsville new construction page, and Venue at Monroe, a 55+ community of single-family homes, is on the Monroe new construction page. If you are weighing a new home against a resale in an established community, our new construction vs resale guide lays out the tradeoffs.

How to use this

Pick the home type first (flat, townhouse or detached), because it moves price more than the town does. Then shortlist two or three communities from the table, compare their fees against what each one covers, and request the association documents early. The medians tell you where to look; the documents tell you whether a community fits the way you want to live.

• Downsizing in Greater Princeton: Sell, Rent It Out, or Stay
• Golf Communities Near Princeton
• New Construction vs Resale in New Jersey