Best In South Carolina Real Estate™: Columbia

Camden leads South Carolina in home affordability stress, with a home value to income ratio of 4.2x—meaning a typical household would need 4.2 years of gross income to buy a median home. This is not just a local metric; it’s a warning sign for the broader Midlands metro. For Columbia, this underscores a critical truth: housing supply alone won’t fix affordability if wages don’t keep pace. The real estate market isn’t just about price—it’s about who can actually afford to live there. Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Slide 1: w_lemay (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=142525165; Slide 2: w_lemay (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=142524977; Slide 3: LostNarwal (CC BY-SA 4.0) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=150983904; Slide 4: w_lemay (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=142524988 Home Value to Income Ratio, top 10 (ALEX Intelligence — U.S. Census Bureau 2024) #1 Camden — 4.2x #2 Dentsville — 3.6x #3 Forest Acres — 3.6x #4 West Columbia — 3.5x #5 Lake Murray of Richland — 3.5x #6 St. Andrews — 3.5x #7 Lexington — 3.4x #8 Woodfield — 3.3x #9 Seven Oaks — 3.3x #10 Lugoff — 3.2x Source: https://alex-companies.com/data/2026-11-12-columbia-sc-value-to-income-place-mkt View and join any or all of our communities — AI, quantum, and real estate: https://alex-companies.com/reports/linkedin-groups If there's an AI, quantum, or real estate community you'd like to see us convene, tell us — this portfolio grows by request. Real Estate Strategy & Intelligence Leader. Democratized Blue Ocean Strategist & Operator. Diane Hart Alexander, MBA, MHA Chair & CEO, ALEX Companies Designated Broker, Alexander Tiffany Southwest, LLC dba ALEX.realestate, et.al. Texas License #574877-B · Broker License #565194-BB [email protected] · +1 713.591.9902