SC realtors closed 5,511 transactions in January 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 82 days (DTC — Days to Close). That is 5.1% longer than January 2024. The market remains active and the wait is getting longer. More money earned means more money sitting unpaid for longer.
January 2023 statewide DTC was 69 days. January 2024 came in at 78 days. January 2025 landed at 82 days. Three consecutive years, three consecutive increases. The trend is structural, not seasonal.
January is SC's slowest closing month. Fewer buyers, fewer contracts, and longer waits are typical. January 2025 came in at 82 days — 5.1% longer than January 2024. 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 2025 | vs Statewide avg | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Trident | 50 days | 32 days faster | +28.2% |
| Spartanburg | 51 days | 31 days faster | +45.7% |
| Greater Columbia | 55 days | 27 days faster | +19.6% |
| Piedmont Regional | 59 days | 23 days faster | +34.1% |
| Greater Greenville | 61 days | 21 days faster | +17.3% |
| Central Carolina | 64 days | 18 days faster | -22.0% |
| Pee Dee | 70 days | 12 days faster | -27.1% |
| Western Upstate | 74 days | 8 days faster | +7.2% |
| Sumter/Clarendon County | 76 days | 6 days faster | +20.6% |
| Greater Augusta | 118 days | 36 days slower | +11.3% |
| Beaufort | 119 days | 37 days slower | +22.7% |
| Aiken | 124 days | 42 days slower | +26.5% |
| Hilton Head Area | 131 days | 49 days slower | -16.6% |
| Coastal Carolinas | 136 days | 54 days slower | +11.5% |
| Cherokee County | 136 days | 54 days slower | +21.4% |
| Greenwood | 141 days | 59 days slower | +50.0% |
The January 2025 Days to Close figure is part of a multi-year pattern across South Carolina. January 2023 the statewide average was 69 days. By January 2024 it had risen to 78 days. January 2025 came in at 82 days. That is 13 more days of unpaid commission per transaction than two years ago — with no sign of reversal.
Multiply the number of January 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 January 2025 that number reached 451,902 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 January 2025 was $340,000 (+2.1% from last year). At a 3% commission rate that is approximately $10,200 per transaction. That check is sitting unpaid for an average of 82 days (DTC) from contract signing. As both prices and DTC continue to move, the dollar amount sitting unpaid per agent changes every month.