Housing Market in South Carolina
South Carolina's housing market is genuinely not one market: Charleston's historic, supply-constrained peninsula and expanding suburbs run at a real premium, Greenville's city core runs above the national median even as its wider county runs below it, and Myrtle Beach and Columbia both run meaningfully more affordable than the national median sale price -- four real, distinct stories driven by the state's fastest-in-the-nation population growth.
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Learn moreSouth Carolina's #1 population growth is placing real, disclosed demand pressure statewide
South Carolina was the Census Bureau's fastest-growing state in the country for 2025 (Vintage 2025 estimates: 5,570,274 residents, +1.5% year-over-year, driven overwhelmingly by net domestic in-migration of 66,622 people) -- real, sustained demand pressure on housing statewide, though it lands very differently by market. moveBuddha's 2025-2026 migration report separately found Myrtle Beach specifically had the highest inbound-to-outbound moving-search ratio of any US city (3.28 in-moves per exit) in 2025.
Charleston and Greenville run at a real premium; Myrtle Beach and Columbia run meaningfully more affordable
Charleston County's median sale price runs around $623,000 against a county median household income in the $84,000-$92,000 range -- a real, disclosed affordability gap driving the state's EXPENSIVE_HOUSING profile there. Greenville's city-proper median sale price ($524,789, per Redfin, three months ending June 2026) runs above the June 2026 national median ($408,776), while its countywide median ($368,146) runs below it -- a real city/county divergence. Myrtle Beach's median sale price runs roughly 32% below the national median, and Columbia's runs roughly 30% below national -- genuinely different markets inside one state.
Confirm your target county's position on South Carolina's 4%/6% assessment-ratio system
Because South Carolina assesses owner-occupied primary residences at 4% of fair market value versus 6% for other real property, a buyer's real effective property-tax burden depends on whether the county has processed their legal-residence filing -- not simply on the county's millage rate alone. Confirm this directly with your target county assessor as part of any purchase-cost estimate.
Coastal markets carry a real, disclosed hurricane-risk premium buyers should price in
Charleston, Myrtle Beach/Horry County, and Beaufort/Hilton Head's housing markets sit inside the state's coastal hurricane-exposure zone and the SC Wind and Hail Underwriting Association's service area -- a real, disclosed insurance-cost and coverage-availability factor distinct from the inland Pee Dee's flood risk or the Upstate's largely different hazard profile. See the flood-hurricane-risk and homeowners-insurance topics before finalizing a coastal purchase.
Key takeaways
- South Carolina's #1-in-the-nation population growth (+1.5% in 2025, Census Vintage 2025) is placing real, sustained demand pressure on housing statewide, landing very differently by market.
- Charleston and Greenville-city-proper run at a real premium over the national median sale price; Myrtle Beach and Columbia run roughly 30-32% below it -- confirm your specific target market.
- Confirm your target county's processing of South Carolina's 4% owner-occupied legal-residence assessment ratio as part of any purchase-cost estimate, not just the county's headline millage rate.
- Charleston, Myrtle Beach/Horry County, and Beaufort/Hilton Head sit inside South Carolina's coastal hurricane-exposure zone -- price in real, disclosed insurance-cost and coverage factors before buying there.
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