Columbia, SC Real Estate Market
Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Date(s) & Update Frequency:
- Home Values, Rents: Reflects Q2 2024. Updated quarterly.
- Setting, Housing Stock, Homeownership: 2022 (latest available). Updated annually.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
Columbia, SC Housing Market Trends
With 139,698 people, 50,223 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $245,574, house prices in Columbia are solidly below the national average.
Single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Columbia, accounting for 51.63% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Columbia include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments ( 31.10%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 10.64%), and a few row houses and other attached homes ( 5.75%).
People in Columbia primarily live in small (one, two or no bedroom) single-family detached homes. Columbia has a mixture of owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing.
At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Columbia's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 33.06% of the city's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Columbia include homes built between 1970-1999 ( 30.28%) and housing constructed between 2000 and later ( 26.30%). There's also some housing in Columbia built before 1939 ( 10.37%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Columbia. Fully 14.75% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Columbia homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Columbia real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
Columbia Home Appreciation Rates
Real estate appreciation rates in Columbia's have tracked to near the national average over the last then years, with the annual appreciation rate averaging 6.23% during the period.
Over the last year, Columbia appreciation rates have trailed the rest of the nation. In the last twelve months, Columbia's appreciation rate has been 3.47%, which is lower than appreciation rates in most communities in America. In the latest quarter, NeighborhoodScout's data show that house appreciation rates in Columbia were at 2.63%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of 10.92%.
Relative to South Carolina, our data show that Columbia's latest annual appreciation rate is lower than 80% of the other cities and towns in South Carolina.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Columbia differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Columbia - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Columbia real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
Median Home Value
$245,574
High
for South carolina
Average
for nation
Number of Homes And Apartments:
50,223
SC
America
2024 Q1 - 2024 Q2
2023 Q2 - 2024 Q2
2022 Q2 - 2024 Q2
2019 Q2 - 2024 Q2
2014 Q2 - 2024 Q2
2000 Q1 - 2024 Q2
Average Market Rent:
$1,909 / per month