South Carolina Housing Market Update

Updated October 20, 2026 · Intempus Property Management · Property Investment · 15 min read

The South Carolina housing market is doing two things at once. Prices have edged up while almost everything that makes a sale happen has slowed down. South Carolina REALTORS put the statewide median sale price at $344,995 in September 2026, up 1.8 percent on September 2025, but closed sales fell 2.1 percent, pending sales fell 6.1 percent, inventory rose almost ten percent and the typical listing now sits for 78 days. Meanwhile the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has climbed to 7.40 percent, more than a full point above where it was a year ago. If you own a rental here, that combination is the whole story.

South Carolina housing market snapshot

Two organizations publish statewide numbers and they do not agree, because they measure different things over different windows. Both are shown below, each labeled with its own source.

South Carolina home prices: up slightly, selling slowly

South Carolina REALTORS put the statewide median home price in South Carolina at $344,995 in September 2026, up 1.8 percent from $339,000 in September 2025. The year to date median is $344,900, up 1.4 percent on the same stretch of 2025. That is real but small growth, and it is being bought with time rather than competition: days on market rose to 78 from 74, and sellers received 97.7 percent of list price, a tenth of a point less than a year ago.

People also search for the average home price in South Carolina, which is a different and much larger number. South Carolina REALTORS reported an average sale price of $477,674 in September 2026, up 5.1 percent year over year. The gap between a $344,995 median and a $477,674 average tells you something useful on its own: a relatively small number of high end coastal sales is pulling the average well above the typical transaction, and the average is rising faster than the median because the top of the market is where the growth is. When you see a South Carolina price quoted, check which one you are looking at.

Supply is why the middle of the market has stalled. Inventory reached 34,341 active listings in September 2026, up 9.7 percent year over year, and months supply of inventory sits at 4.4, against 4.1 a year ago. Closed sales fell 2.1 percent and pending sales fell 6.1 percent, so the pipeline for the next two months is thinner than the one just completed. Redfin, measuring on a different basis and an earlier month, reported 13.0 percent of South Carolina homes selling above list price in August 2026 and 22.1 percent taking a price cut.

Correction to our previous update: we published a July 2026 statewide median of $349,900. South Carolina REALTORS now shows July 2026 at $348,400, with average price revised to $464,314, inventory to 34,625 and closed sales to 8,869. The association revises recent months as late sales report in, and $349,900 was in fact the July 2025 figure in the prior-year column. The September reading above is the current one.

Average home price in South Carolina cities

The statewide median of $344,995 conceals a range of more than $640,000 between the cheapest and the most expensive market covered here. Every row below is a Redfin median with its own reference month, because Redfin refreshes these city pages on different schedules.

Redfin tracks Johns Island as a neighborhood of Charleston rather than as a separate city, and its Johns Island window still ends in July, so that row is two months behind the rest. All other rows are Redfin city stat cards. Redfin page titles and meta descriptions on several of these cities quote different figures from the stat cards; the stat card values are the ones used here.

The South Carolina rental market

There is no fresh statewide Zillow figure this month. Zillow's South Carolina rental trends page has not refreshed since August 16, 2026, when it showed $1,800, so we are not presenting it as current. In its place the KPI box above uses RentCafe, which put the average rent in South Carolina at $1,668 as of September 30, 2026, up 2.26 percent year over year. RentCafe measures apartments in buildings of 50 or more units, so it runs below a figure that includes rented houses. Both sources agree that South Carolina rent sits well below the national average.

Put that next to the mortgage math. Principal and interest on the $344,995 statewide median, with twenty percent down at 7.40 percent over thirty years, is $1,911 a month, before property taxes, insurance, closing costs and maintenance. The same loan a year ago at 6.27 percent cost $1,703, so the rate move alone has added $208 a month to the cost of buying the identical house. The statewide apartment average is $1,911 minus $243, at $1,668, but those two numbers describe different products, so the honest like for like comparison is made market by market.

Summerville is the cleanest example, because both figures there cover homes rather than apartments. Zillow put Summerville rent at $2,328 on October 19, 2026, and principal and interest on Redfin's $379,000 Summerville median is $2,099 at 7.40 percent. Owning looks about $229 a month cheaper before taxes and insurance, which is a real argument until you remember it requires $75,800 in cash down. That deposit, not the monthly payment, is what keeps your tenant renting.

The state average hides an enormous spread. Mount Pleasant rents at roughly double Columbia. If you own on the coast you are in a different business from an owner in the Midlands, and pricing off a statewide figure will cost you either vacancy or rent.

South Carolina rent prices by market

All rows Zillow Rental Manager, average rent across all bedroom counts and property types, which is a different measure from the RentCafe apartment average used in the KPI box above. Each market carries its own refresh date. Zillow's statewide South Carolina page is stale at August 16, 2026 and is not used anywhere in this update.

The Lowcountry and the Charleston housing market

Intempus runs two South Carolina offices, one in Summerville and one in Okatie just outside Bluffton, so the Lowcountry is the part of this state we watch most closely. It is also where the price extremes live, and this month it is where the two halves of the market have pulled furthest apart.

Redfin put the Charleston median sale price at $659,636 for the three months ending September 2026, up 8.1 percent year over year, with a median 72 days on market and 908 homes sold in September against 712 a year earlier. That is the strongest combination of price and volume in this article. Mount Pleasant, the premium market across the Ravenel Bridge, came in at $915,000 for the three months ending August 2026, up 1.1 percent, with 64 days on market. The premium market has stopped sprinting; Charleston proper has not.

Summerville, where our Charleston area office sits, is the value play in the metro. Redfin recorded a $379,000 median for the three months ending August 2026, up 6.8 percent, and days on market fell by nine to 67, the only market in this article where homes are selling faster than a year ago. That combination, solid price growth plus quicker sales, usually signals genuine end user demand rather than investor churn. North Charleston, the rental workhorse of the metro, sits at $364,826 for the three months ending September 2026, up 2.0 percent, with 74 days on market.

Bluffton, Okatie and Johns Island

Down in Beaufort County the direction has changed. Redfin put the Bluffton median at $534,645 for the three months ending September 2026, down 7.8 percent year over year, with days on market up fourteen to 74. Sales volume is up 19.9 percent over the same window, so this is not a market losing buyers; it is a market where more modestly priced homes are closing and sellers at the top are having to meet buyers. Zillow shows Bluffton rent down about $250 year over year to $2,300. Our Okatie office covers this corridor, and this is the one Lowcountry submarket where we would price a new listing conservatively rather than test the ceiling.

Johns Island remains the standout on price growth, with the caveat that Redfin's data for it is the oldest on this page. Redfin, which tracks it as a neighborhood of Charleston rather than a separate city, recorded a $697,257 median for the three months ending July 2026, up 12.5 percent year over year, with sales volume up 22.2 percent and a median 75 days on market. That window has not advanced since our last update, so treat it as a July reading rather than a current one. On Johns Island housing market predictions we will be direct: Intempus does not publish price forecasts, and anyone who tells you where Johns Island will be next year is guessing.

Columbia and Greenville

Away from the coast the picture is calmer. Anyone tracking the Columbia SC housing market will find the most affordable major market in the state: Redfin put the Columbia median at $272,779 for the three months ending September 2026, up 4.9 percent, with a median 41 days on market, by far the fastest of any market in this article. Columbia rent is $1,595, also the lowest here, and it is down about $5 year over year. Low price, fast sales, flat rent.

Greenville, in the Upstate, is the one large market where Redfin recorded a price decline alongside a sharp slowdown: a $514,659 median for the three months ending August 2026, down 2.0 percent year over year, with days on market up fifteen to 67. Greenville rent sits at $1,695, down about $105 on the year, the largest rent decline of any market in this table. Note that the Greenville and Mount Pleasant readings are August windows while Charleston, Bluffton, North Charleston and Columbia are September, so they do not belong in the same month to month comparison as the chart above.

Mortgage rates and what elevated rates mean for owner occupancy

Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.40 percent on October 15, 2026, unchanged from the previous week and well above the 6.27 percent of a year earlier. Rates rose through the first half of October, from 7.03 percent on September 24 to 7.28 percent on October 1 and 7.40 percent on October 8. This is the highest level this page has carried since it was first published.

In a state where the median home is $344,995, that matters more than it sounds. At 7.40 percent, principal and interest alone consumes $1,911 a month, and the South Carolina REALTORS Housing Affordability Index fell to 89 in September 2026 from 97 a year earlier, meaning the median household income is only 89 percent of what is needed to qualify for the median priced home. An index below 100 is the whole story: the typical South Carolina family cannot comfortably buy the typical South Carolina house at today's rates, and they are further from it than they were last year.

For a rental owner this is straightforward. Every month rates stay above seven percent, households that would otherwise be buying stay in your unit instead. That is why statewide pending sales fell 6.1 percent while rental demand held. The demand under your property is not coming from rent growth, it is coming from blocked buyers.

What this means if you own a South Carolina rental

• Price against your own submarket, never the state. Zillow's city rents span Columbia at $1,595 and Mount Pleasant at $3,195. The state number is useful for a press release and useless for setting your rent.
• Lead with the deposit, not the monthly payment. In Summerville, owning the median home actually costs about $229 a month less in principal and interest than renting one, but it takes $75,800 down to get there. That cash barrier, not the payment, is the honest reason your applicant is renting.
• Expect longer marketing times and budget for them. Statewide days on market rose to 78 and inventory is up 9.7 percent. Sale listings and rental listings both move slower in a market with more choice. Two weeks of vacancy costs more than the $75 you were holding out for.
• Treat Bluffton and Greenville differently this quarter. Those are the two markets where both the sale median and the rent fell year over year. A renewal at last year's rent is a win there, not a concession.
• Think twice about selling into a 78 day market. The statewide median is up only 1.8 percent, months supply is at 4.4 and sellers are getting 97.7 percent of list. If you do not have to sell, renting through this stretch keeps your equity intact and your property earning.

South Carolina housing market FAQ

Related pages

Sources: South Carolina REALTORS, Monthly Indicators, September 2026 (current as of October 10, 2026); Redfin South Carolina housing market data, August 2026; Redfin Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Columbia, Summerville, North Charleston, Bluffton, Greenville and Johns Island stat cards, rolling three month windows ending July, August and September 2026 as labeled; Zillow Rental Manager city rent pages, each dated in the table above; RentCafe South Carolina average rent, September 30, 2026, apartments in buildings of 50 or more units; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, October 15, 2026. Figures are the most recent published readings at the time of writing and are provided for general information, not investment advice.