SC realtors closed 7,826 transactions in March 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 83 days (DTC — Days to Close). That is 12.2% longer than March 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.
March 2024 statewide DTC was 72 days. March 2025 came in at 74 days. March 2026 landed at 83 days. Three consecutive years, three consecutive increases. The trend is structural, not seasonal.
March is when SC's spring market kicks into gear — volume jumps and DTC typically tightens. March 2026 closings were essentially flat year-over-year at 7,826. But DTC came in at 83 days — 12.2% longer than March 2025. Volume held up; the wait got worse. SC realtors closed as many deals but waited longer for every check.
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 — March 2026 | vs Statewide avg | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Trident | 56 days | 27 days faster | +7.7% |
| Sumter/Clarendon County | 57 days | 26 days faster | -9.5% |
| Greater Columbia | 58 days | 25 days faster | +1.8% |
| Greater Greenville | 63 days | 20 days faster | +8.6% |
| Piedmont Regional | 72 days | 16 days faster | +24.1% |
| Spartanburg | 74 days | 9 days faster | +51.0% |
| Pee Dee | 80 days | near avg | +23.1% |
| Western Upstate | 89 days | 6 days slower | +21.9% |
| Cherokee County | 108 days | 25 days slower | -20.6% |
| Central Carolina | 110 days | 27 days slower | +27.9% |
| Greenwood | 123 days | 40 days slower | +29.5% |
| Aiken | 124 days | 41 days slower | +12.7% |
| Greater Augusta | 124 days | 41 days slower | +8.8% |
| Beaufort | 129 days | 46 days slower | +4.0% |
| Coastal Carolinas | 133 days | 50 days slower | +3.1% |
| Hilton Head Area | 138 days | 55 days slower | +91.7% |
The March 2026 Days to Close figure is part of a multi-year pattern across South Carolina. March 2024 the statewide average was 72 days. By March 2025 it had risen to 74 days. March 2026 came in at 83 days. That is 11 more days of unpaid commission per transaction than two years ago — with no sign of reversal.
Multiply the number of March 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 March 2026 that number reached 649,558 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 March 2026 was $345,000 (+3.3% from last year). At a 3% commission rate that is approximately $10,350 per transaction. That check is sitting unpaid for an average of 83 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.