SC realtors closed 8,691 transactions in May 2025. 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 64 days (DTC — Days to Close). That is 8.5% longer than May 2024. The market remains active and the wait is getting longer. More money earned means more money sitting unpaid for longer.
May 2023 statewide DTC was 60 days. May 2024 came in at 59 days. May 2025 landed at 64 days. Three consecutive years, three consecutive increases. The trend is structural, not seasonal.
May is peak spring season in South Carolina — the highest-volume month of the year. May 2025 closings rose 4.2% and DTC came in at 64 days — still 8.5% longer than May 2024. The busiest month of the year is generating more commission backlog 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 — May 2025 | vs Statewide avg | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spartanburg | 39 days | 25 days faster | +5.4% |
| Charleston Trident | 45 days | 19 days faster | +28.6% |
| Greater Columbia | 45 days | 19 days faster | +7.1% |
| Greater Greenville | 46 days | 18 days faster | 0.0% |
| Piedmont Regional | 47 days | 17 days faster | +34.3% |
| Hilton Head Area | 58 days | 6 days faster | +11.5% |
| Western Upstate | 65 days | near avg | +6.6% |
| Pee Dee | 72 days | 8 days slower | +50.0% |
| Sumter/Clarendon County | 73 days | 9 days slower | +46.0% |
| Central Carolina | 88 days | 24 days slower | +69.2% |
| Cherokee County | 91 days | 27 days slower | +7.1% |
| Greenwood | 99 days | 35 days slower | +11.2% |
| Greater Augusta | 110 days | 46 days slower | +7.8% |
| Aiken | 113 days | 49 days slower | +10.8% |
| Beaufort | 116 days | 52 days slower | +17.2% |
| Coastal Carolinas | 121 days | 57 days slower | +7.1% |
The May 2025 Days to Close figure is part of a multi-year pattern across South Carolina. May 2023 the statewide average was 60 days. By May 2024 it had risen to 59 days. May 2025 came in at 64 days. That is 4 more days of unpaid commission per transaction than two years ago — with no sign of reversal.
Multiply the number of May 2025 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 May 2025 that number reached 556,224 agent-days of unpaid commission statewide. The busier the market and the longer contracts take to close, the bigger that number grows.
The SC median home price in May 2025 was $343,851 (+1.1% from last year). At a 3% commission rate that is approximately $10,316 per transaction. That check is sitting unpaid for an average of 64 days (DTC) from contract signing. As both prices and DTC continue to move, the dollar amount sitting unpaid per agent changes every month.