SC realtors closed 5,923 transactions in February 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 86 days (DTC — Days to Close). That is 14.7% longer than February 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.
February 2024 statewide DTC was 73 days. February 2025 came in at 75 days. February 2026 landed at 86 days. Three consecutive years, three consecutive increases. The trend is structural, not seasonal.
February is early spring ramp-up in South Carolina — buyer activity starts picking up after winter. But February 2026 DTC came in at 86 days, up 14.7% from February 2025. The spring acceleration is not translating into faster closings. SC realtors are entering peak season with a larger cash flow gap than ever.
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 — February 2026 | vs Statewide avg | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Trident | 60 days | 26 days faster | +1.7% |
| Greater Columbia | 61 days | 25 days faster | +3.4% |
| Spartanburg | 64 days | 22 days faster | +33.3% |
| Piedmont Regional | 65 days | 21 days faster | +20.4% |
| Sumter/Clarendon County | 75 days | 17 days faster | +7.8% |
| Greater Greenville | 71 days | 15 days faster | +14.5% |
| Central Carolina | 86 days | 8 days faster | -22.0% |
| Pee Dee | 90 days | near avg | +36.4% |
| Western Upstate | 96 days | 10 days slower | +26.3% |
| Beaufort | 122 days | 36 days slower | -5.4% |
| Aiken | 126 days | 40 days slower | -4.5% |
| Greater Augusta | 128 days | 42 days slower | +3.2% |
| Cherokee County | 128 days | 42 days slower | +64.1% |
| Coastal Carolinas | 134 days | 48 days slower | +8.1% |
| Hilton Head Area | 134 days | 48 days slower | +116.1% |
| Greenwood | 135 days | 49 days slower | -4.3% |
The February 2026 Days to Close figure is part of a multi-year pattern across South Carolina. February 2024 the statewide average was 73 days. By February 2025 it had risen to 75 days. February 2026 came in at 86 days. That is 13 more days of unpaid commission per transaction than two years ago — with no sign of reversal.
Multiply the number of February 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 February 2026 that number reached 509,378 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 February 2026 was $327,445 (-0.8% from last year). At a 3% commission rate that is approximately $9,823 per transaction. That check is sitting unpaid for an average of 86 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.