COLUMBIA, S.C. — Buying a home in South Carolina is continuing to be a challenge for some as home price increases are outpacing salary increases.
The housing market continues to surprise according to Ben McCarter. He's the owner of Mac's Real Estate, serving Lexington and West Columbia. He says the current one has proven to be tricky for some clients to navigate.
"With rates going to where they are now, that $350,000 house, the payment is just not realistic anymore, so then they're dropping down to $300,000 price range and that's a mental shift they're having to go through," he says.
According to data from Bankrate, in order to afford a median-priced home in South Carolina, homebuyers now need a $96,000 salary. Just four years ago, in 2020, that number was $57,000.
"Really I guess the pandemic affected prices heavily because people got this need to just get into something now. A big factor now is you're having a lot of out of state move into our state, they're coming from states where they can sell their home, make a good bit of profit, and then come into our state and pay almost all cash here," McCarter says,
This comes at a time when most South Carolinians aren't making enough to reach that threshold. According to data from the U.S. Census, in 2022, the median household income was $62,000, with 14% of the state still living in poverty.
Joseph Von Nessen is a professor at the University of South Carolina. He says, "We've had a period of very levels of demand that's been driven by significant population gains in the state, that is projected to continue. It's been fueled by a lack of supply," adding, "And then if we look at rising interest rates, over the past two years, that also creates an independent source for increasing the cost of homeownership."
He says it's a trend that doesn't have an immediate change.
"Looking ahead more generally 5-10 years out, we expect for the population growth in South Carolina to continue. We expect for industry growth to continue and that's going to lead to more demand overall," he adds, "I think it just raises awareness that affordability is a challenge in South Carolina and some thing we have to take seriously."
McCarter has this advice for anyone who may be having trouble getting their next home.
"Conversations with my buyers, it is always starts with- figure out that monthly payment, and then let's back into that purchase price based on that," he says.