Housing affordability

Finding a home or apartment you can afford in Charleston and its neighboring counties indeed feels like a crisis to its many, many newcomers. But for those who have owned a home for a long time, there is no affordable housing crisis. In episode 2 of Understand SC, we sat down with Abigail Darlington, longtime city of Charleston reporter, whose reporting has found that Charleston’s housing crisis is on pace to rival San Francisco’s. In many parts of Charleston County, it takes at least a six-figure income to buy a typical single-family home. The county’s median household income is about $55,000, and roughly half earn less than that. Though Darlington has left the Post and Courier since this episode was recorded, her knowledge of the subject is unparalleled. The big question: What has made the price of housing shoot so far upward in the Lowcountry? And what can power players in the region do to make the region more livable? Further reading: Charleston’s housing crisis is on pace to mirror San Francisco’s. Shunning development could make it worse. Housing prices still unaffordable for most in Charleston region, burdening workforce