This is how long it takes to save for a down payment on an SC home in 2026, study shows

Getting the keys to your house and setting foot onto the property you can finally call your own is a feeling unlike any other.

But with current housing prices, buying property is looking more and more improbable, especially for younger people who are entering the job market.

Homeownership in the U.S. peaked in 2004, hitting an annual rate of 69%. Two decades later, fewer people own their homes, according to RubyHome, a luxury real estate platform. A little less than two-thirds of Americans live in a home they own, with 70% of homeowners over the age of 45. Only 10% of homeowners are under the age of 35.

There are many factors that go into rates of homeownership, but increased costs are the most impactful. Since 2016, the average sales price of a house in the U.S. has climbed from $357,000 to $514,600, an increase of $157,600, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, an economic and financial database.

In South Carolina, housing prices rose from $163,923 in 2016 to $305,174 in 2026, an increase of $141,251. As a result, housing down payments have also substantially increased from a decade ago.

SmartAsset, a financial technology company, released a study that shows how much longer it takes, on average, to save up for house down payments in each state than it did a decade ago, using data from Zillow’s Home Value Index between April 2016 and April 2026.

Here’s how much SC’s house down payment burden has increased since 2016:

How long does it take to save for a down payment in SC?

Only a few states, such as Louisiana and North Dakota, need less time to save up for a down payment than a decade ago, and SC is not one of those states.

According to SmartAsset, it took eight years on average to save up for a down payment in 2016 with the median income in SC. It now takes 17 months longer to save up for a down payment with SC’s median income.

In 2016, the SC median household income was $49,501, and that figure has grown to $76,284 in 2026. While the median household income in SC has grown over a decade, it is not enough to keep up with the rising housing prices.

Minimum wage in SC hasn’t changed since 2009, remaining at $7.25 an hour even as almost everything has grown more expensive. If someone’s working with a minimum wage paycheck in 2026, it would take 40.5 years to save up enough money just to afford a house down payment.

SC’s down payment burden has substantially increased in a decade, but 27 other states have seen a bigger change. Here are the 5 states with the largest change in time needed to save for a home down payment:

1. Idaho: Change in time needed to save is 40 months longer
2. Rhode Island: Change in time needed to save is 39 months longer
3. New Hampshire: Change in time needed to save is 36 months longer
4. Maine: Change in time needed to save is 34 months longer
5. Utah: Change in time needed to save is 32 months longer