Statewide Changes to SC Real Estate are Coming

South Carolina’s property market isn’t just moving house by house—it’s shifting at the state level. With fresh legislative energy at the Capitol, a full slate of real-estate-related priorities, and on-the-ground activity building toward spring, the next stretch could reshape how buyers, sellers, and investors operate across the Palmetto State. From short-term rental rules to agricultural rollback taxes, wholesaling scrutiny, cleaning up outdated deed restrictions, and stronger broker oversight and education, the threads all tie back to one thing: decisions in Columbia will influence everyday transactions statewide.

Statewide Changes to SC Real Estate

A wave of Statewide Changes to SC Real Estate is taking shape as new House members settle in and realtor-led priorities move through Columbia—touching short-term rentals, agricultural rollback taxes, wholesaling oversight, cleaning up discriminatory deed restrictions, and stronger broker involvement and education.

A busier spring after a slow, work-heavy start

Across the state, many professionals are working hard without seeing big early-year paychecks—yet they’re watching pipelines fill. The expectation is a noticeable uptick in the second quarter. That optimism pairs with a recent 25 bps move from the Federal Reserve and a more hopeful tone that the rate-hike cycle may be near its end. Meanwhile, price behavior is being misunderstood in headlines: appreciation has cooled from prior highs, but that doesn’t mean broad price declines; it means slower growth, not a crash.

Why statewide policy matters right now

There’s a new wave of lawmakers—especially in the House—so some legislative gears will turn slowly at first. Even so, multiple items with direct, real-world impact are on the table this year. Highlights from the current agenda and conference conversations include:

Short-term rentals: forcing a statewide conversation (House Bill 3253)

A Realtor-legislator filed a House bill aimed at short-term rental bans by local governments (cities/counties). The proposal says that if a locality bans rentals under 30 days, the affected property would no longer be taxed at the 6% investment rate and would instead be treated as owner-occupied for tax purposes. No one expects this exact language to pass the Senate; the point is to build support in the House and get the Senate to engage so that a workable statewide approach can be negotiated.

Why it matters: The current patchwork of municipal rules and complaint-driven enforcement makes guidance difficult for owners and investors who are trying to evaluate an Airbnb-style strategy. A clearer statewide framework—whatever its final form—would make decisions more predictable.

Agricultural rollback taxes: continuing to pare back (House Bill 3071)

When land moves from agricultural to another use, the owner can be billed “rollback” taxes that recapture prior tax benefits. The state already trimmed the look-back from five years to three. A new bill seeks to reduce it to one year. It isn’t slated for immediate passage, but the trend is toward easing the penalty so owners aren’t unduly punished when farming no longer pencils out.

Wholesaling: more eyes, same gray zone (for now)

Wholesaling—putting a property under contract below market and assigning the contract for a higher price—remains a mixed bag. Some players operate cleanly; others don’t. The state association is studying options, but broad legal changes aren’t a sure thing in the near term. Expect continued scrutiny, with an emphasis on transparency and consumer understanding that wholesaling isn’t governed by the same code, training, or brokerage supervision as licensed agents.

Cleaning up discriminatory deed restrictions (carefully)

Older properties sometimes carry deed restrictions or covenants with discriminatory language written decades ago. Those clauses are illegal and unenforceable today, but they still surface in title work and create understandable concerns. The task is surgical: create a path to remove illegal covenants without accidentally weakening valid deed restrictions (like use or livestock limits) that owners rely on. Progress is deliberate because the balance is tricky—clear records that reflect current law, without opening the door to erasing legitimate restrictions.

Broker oversight and real-world education

Two professional priorities are gathering momentum:

• Closer broker involvement. There’s interest in ensuring brokers are truly accessible and actively supervising agents; one idea discussed is limiting how many offices a single broker can oversee.

• Practical core education. Beyond ethics and legal updates, there’s a push for required instruction that teaches how to actually practice—contracts, timelines, negotiations, and problem-solving. There’s also pressure to put association funds to work (with regulators watching reserves), which could accelerate investment in meaningful training.

Consumer takeaway: Better supervision and hands-on education raise the floor on service quality, which should mean cleaner contracts and fewer avoidable errors from offer to close.

Headlines vs. math: appreciation slowed, not reversed

A core theme right now is perception. When year-over-year appreciation decelerates sharply—from, say, a prior 20% pace to a mid-single-digit pace—some coverage frames it as “prices down.” The more accurate read: prices are still rising, just not as fast. As broader media narratives realign with that reality, buyer and seller behavior should track the numbers more closely—right as the spring/summer busy season kicks in.

The legislative tempo

With many freshmen in the House, expect a measured start while new members get up to speed. Even so, the combination of filed bills, committee work, and statewide engagement (including Capitol-level conferences) signals that real-estate-touching items will be a priority throughout the year. The result won’t be a single sweeping law but incremental changes that, together, make the landscape more navigable.

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Bottom Line

Statewide Changes to SC Real Estate won’t land all at once, but the direction is clear. Short-term rental clarity is being pushed into a statewide dialogue. Rollback taxes are trending toward lighter penalties. Wholesaling is under a brighter light. Outdated, discriminatory deed restrictions are being addressed with care. And there’s a serious move toward closer broker supervision and practical education. Pair those with an activity-rich pipeline and a more accurate understanding of price behavior, and South Carolina’s market looks set for a season where policy and practice move in step—making decisions more predictable for buyers, sellers, and investors alike.

Ien Araneta

Journal & Podcast Editor | Selling Greenville