SC realtors closed 5,511 transactions in January 2026. More deals closed. More commissions earned. But from the moment a contract was signed to the day agents got paid, they waited an average of 87 days (DTC — Days to Close). That is 6.1% longer than January 2025. The market is busier and the wait is getting longer at the same time. More money earned means more money sitting unpaid for longer.
January 2024 statewide DTC was 72 days. January 2025 came in at 82 days. January 2026 landed at 87 days. Three consecutive years, three consecutive increases. The trend is structural, not seasonal.
January is historically SC's slowest closing month. Fewer buyers, fewer contracts, and longer waits are typical. But January 2026 came in at 87 days — 6.1% longer than January 2025. Even the slowest month of the year is getting slower.
Contract-to-close times vary dramatically across South Carolina. The same state, the same month — but a Hilton Head agent waits more than 2.5 times longer than a Charleston agent to receive the same commission check.
| Region | DTC — January 2026 | vs Statewide avg | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Trident | 59 days | 28 days faster | +18.0% |
| Greater Columbia | 62 days | 25 days faster | +12.7% |
| Spartanburg | 62 days | 25 days faster | +21.6% |
| Sumter/Clarendon County | 63 days | 24 days faster | -17.1% |
| Greater Greenville | 82 days | 18 days faster | +13.1% |
| Piedmont Regional | 82 days | 18 days faster | +16.9% |
| Pee Dee | 87 days | 9 days faster | +11.4% |
| Central Carolina | 82 days | 5 days faster | +28.1% |
| Western Upstate | 97 days | 10 days slower | +31.1% |
| Cherokee County | 120 days | 33 days slower | -11.8% |
| Greater Augusta | 122 days | 35 days slower | +3.4% |
| Aiken | 126 days | 39 days slower | +1.6% |
| Beaufort | 131 days | 44 days slower | +10.1% |
| Coastal Carolinas | 132 days | 45 days slower | -2.9% |
| Greenwood | 136 days | 49 days slower | -3.5% |
| Hilton Head Area | 140 days | 53 days slower | +6.9% |
The January 2026 Days to Close figure is part of a multi-year pattern across South Carolina. January 2024 the statewide average was 72 days. By January 2025 it had risen to 82 days. January 2026 came in at 87 days. That is 15 more days of unpaid commission per transaction than two years ago — with no sign of reversal.
Multiply the number of January 2026 closings by the average DTC and you get a picture of how much earned but unpaid commission is sitting in the SC pipeline at any given moment. In January 2026 that number reached 479,457 agent-days of unpaid commission statewide. The busier the market gets and the longer contracts take to close, the bigger that number grows.
The SC median home price in January 2026 was $340,000 (+0.9% from last year). At a 3% commission rate that is approximately $10,200 per transaction. That check is sitting unpaid for an average of 87 days (DTC) from contract signing. As both prices and DTC continue to move, the dollar amount of commission sitting unpaid per agent changes every month.