Sumter, South Carolina Housing Market

What stands out in Sumter?

• The median household earns $56,837 a year: among the lowest incomes of 765 tracked cities. Rents are capped by what local households earn.

What moves the numbers in Sumter?

Sumter asking prices per square foot were above the year before in 79% of months since the data starts. Within a year, the cheapest and priciest months differ by about 5.8%. That is bigger than the yearly trend, so timing your purchase matters here. Nothing in Sumter's numbers is far from its own normal. Your return comes from the property and the price you negotiate.

How does Sumter compare with other South Carolina markets?

Ranked among the 11 South Carolina markets we track:

• Asking price: 2nd cheapest of 11. Sumter is at $267,513. Closest: Columbia and Florence.
• Buyer competition: 4th most competitive of 10. Sumter is at 0.38 buyers per home. Closest: Rock Hill and Goose Creek.
• Time on market: 5th shortest time on market of 11. Sumter is at a median of 58 days on market. Closest: Mount Pleasant and Charleston.
• Price cuts: the fewest price cuts of 11. Sumter is at 16% of sellers cutting. Closest: Hilton Head Island.

When do Sumter prices dip?

Across 9 full years, Sumter asking prices ran lowest in January, about 3.6% below the year's average. They peaked in August. The most homes for sale show up in November, about 6% above the yearly average. Shop in November for choice, and expect the softest asking prices in January.

Is now a good time to buy in Sumter?

The median asking price is 8.3% below its Oct 2024 peak. Per square foot the gap is smaller: 2.6% below the Apr 2025 high. Part of the drop is smaller homes coming to market. Prices stopped falling about a year ago. They are flat now. Waiting will not get you a cheaper house. It might still get you a more motivated seller. Sumter prices have risen in 88 of the last 111 months. Drops here have been short and shallow. Buying in a slow month has rarely hurt a long hold.

This market is turning. Which way is not settled yet. Check the monthly numbers above before you commit.

Who will rent from you in Sumter?

In Sumter, 32 out of every 100 households rent. Most own their home. The renter share is shrinking. Five years ago it was 37 in 100. Sumter lost about 1,900 renter households in five years. Renter households average 2.5 people. Two and three bedrooms fit the typical renter.

Households shrank 2% in five years. The housing stock shrank 1%. Supply is outrunning demand. 13.7% of homes sit empty. Tenants have options. Budget extra weeks of vacancy between leases.

The median Sumter household earns $56,837 a year. Incomes here have grown 4.4% a year since 2019. Home prices have outrun incomes. Locals are being priced out. A typical home costs 4.7 times the median income. That is the national middle. Neither cash flow nor appreciation is free here. At 30% of income, a tenant on the median income can pay about $1,421 a month.

To see what one Sumter address would rent for and cash flow, run it through the app.

What numbers should you underwrite a Sumter deal with?

• Price growth to assume — +5.4%/yr. Sumter has grown about 5.4% a year for five years and for ten. That pace held before and after the 2020–2021 boom, so it is a fair long-run input. Prices were flat over the last year.
• Odds you cut your price to sell — 1 in 6. 16% of Sumter listings have cut their asking price. Underwrite your exit below asking.
• Competition when you exit — +8%. Homes for sale in Sumter are up 8% on last year, so your resale faces more competition than today's comps did.

Read how rent-to-price works and how we read these numbers, then run the numbers on a deal.

What is the median home price in Sumter?

The median asking price in Sumter is about $268,000 as of Sep 2026, down 0.8% from a year ago. This is the asking price on homes listed for sale. Sites that report sold prices or estimated home values will show a different number. Our Sumter figures cover the 4 ZIP codes with a Sumter mailing address, which can reach past city limits.

Is Sumter a buyer's or seller's market in 2026?

Neither side has the upper hand in Sumter right now. We compare Sumter with 2017–2019 at this time of year: the typical listing has been up 21% fewer days; 16% of sellers have cut their price, against 13% then; there are 4% fewer homes for sale.

Are Sumter home prices going up or down?

The median asking price is 8.3% below its Oct 2024 peak. Per square foot the gap is smaller: 2.6% below the Apr 2025 high. Part of the drop is smaller homes coming to market. Prices stopped falling about a year ago. They are flat now. Waiting will not get you a cheaper house. It might still get you a more motivated seller.

What price growth should I assume for Sumter?

Assume +5.4% a year. Sumter has grown about 5.4% a year for five years and for ten. That pace held before and after the 2020–2021 boom, so it is a fair long-run input. Prices were flat over the last year.

What is the fair market rent in Sumter?

HUD's fiscal year 2026 fair market rent for Sumter County is $1,276 a month for 2 bedrooms and $1,530 for 3 bedrooms. The figures include tenant-paid utilities and cover the whole county.