Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Charleston is the Boeing-and-port boom — and the second-highest 5-year HPI in the entire queue, behind only Knoxville. Across 3 counties — Charleston at the core plus Berkeley and Dorchester — the metro packs 803,000 residents with a household income of $82,272 (Census ACS) and a median home value of $345,400. The HUD Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom is $1,787. The House Price Index ran +69.1% over five years (FHFA HPI) — top-tier territory, beating the U.S. metros average of +34.3% by 35 percentage points.

The interesting fact is that Charleston pairs best-in-queue 5-year HPI with structurally-strong fundamentals. Inside South Carolina, Charleston ranks #2 of 10 by population, #2 by permits, #2 by 5-year HPI — only Myrtle Beach beats it on price action. The price-to-income ratio is 4.20 (moderate), the rent-to-income is 26.1% (moderate), and the cap rate proxy is 4.04% (borderline). Recent year-over-year HPI is +1.62% — moderate, slowing. The Sun Belt cooldown has reached Charleston too, but the 5-year compound is so steep that the YoY pause is welcome.

The 3-county geometry runs uniformly hot — all three counties build at >8/1k:

• Charleston County (410K pop, $450,800 MHV) leads with 3,415 permits TTM = 8.33 per 1,000 — Charleston city, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, James Island, Johns Island, Daniel Island. Hosts the Boeing 787 Dreamliner plant and Joint Base Charleston. Highest median home value at $450,800.
• Berkeley County (231K pop, $280,300 MHV) is the density leader at 2,283 permits = 9.86 per 1,000 — Goose Creek, Hanahan, Moncks Corner. Home to Cane Bay Plantation and Nexton, two of the largest master-planned communities in the country.
• Dorchester County (162K pop, $294,400 MHV) builds 1,538 permits = 9.49 per 1,000 — Summerville, Ladson, Knightsville. Anchored by Summerville and the Volvo Cars NA plant nearby in Ridgeville.

Charleston runs 9.01 permits per 1,000 residents — 2.6x the national 3.49 and matches the South Carolina state median of 8.93. The 79% single-family / 18% 5+ multifamily mix is heavy SFR — typical Sun Belt sprawl. Permit YoY +9.3% — moderate sustained acceleration on top of an already-strong base.

What's changing: net IRS migration is +3,354 returns (IRS SOI) — +0.42% of population, top tier in the queue. Owner-occupancy 68.7%, bachelor's-or-higher 40.0% (high), median age 38.1, vacancy rate 11.6% (high — partially driven by short-term rentals on the historic peninsula). The labor market is anchored by Boeing South Carolina (the 787 Dreamliner final assembly + delivery center, the only Boeing wide-body assembly site outside Washington State), Volvo Cars (the only North American Volvo manufacturing plant, in Ridgeville), the Port of Charleston (one of the busiest container ports on the East Coast), Joint Base Charleston, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), and the historic tourism cluster. Aerospace + automotive + port + military + healthcare + tourism. Diversified and structurally sticky.

What does an investor do?

• If you're hunting cash flow: Charleston is borderline. 4.04% cap proxy on a $345K median is just below workable. Look at Berkeley County (Goose Creek, Hanahan) and the Dorchester corridor (Summerville, Ladson) for $200K-$280K SFR with workable rent ratios. Avoid the historic peninsula (Charleston city, Mount Pleasant) — pure appreciation play.
• If you're playing appreciation: Charleston is best-in-class. +69.1% over 5 years (#2 in queue) with +0.42% migration (top tier) is the rare structural combo. The cycle has cooled but not broken, and the fundamentals (Boeing + Volvo + Port + Joint Base) anchor it.
• If you already own here: Hold. The Berkeley/Dorchester master-planned-community corridor is where the next leg of growth concentrates. Don't sell to chase higher caps elsewhere — the structural moat is real.