Horry County

Horry County sits at a gross rent-to-price ratio of 6.41%, which places it on the better end of the cash-flow spectrum for South Carolina but still falls short of what most investors need to clear positive leverage at current financing costs. The modeled cap rate of 4.17% tells the real story: at a 6.85% interest rate on an 80% LTV loan, the math produces negative leverage by a wide margin. The projected cash-on-cash return of -9.22% and monthly cash flow of -$565 are the direct result of that spread. Year-over-year home price appreciation of 0.43% offers almost no offset. This is not a market where the numbers self-correct through short-term price gains, and it is not yet generating unlevered yields that cover debt service at today's rates.

Given those figures, Horry is not a straightforward buy-and-hold play for a cash-flow-focused investor underwriting to conventional financing at 6.85%. The affordability index of 61 and an overall score of 58 out of 100 (ranking 426th nationally out of 1,000 counties) suggest a mid-tier market, not a standout. Where Horry does make sense is for an investor who can bring a larger equity position, significantly reducing the debt service drag, or for a value-add operator who can push rents above the $1,709 median by improving an underperforming asset. The cash-flow score of 64 indicates the underlying rent-to-price ratio is competitive relative to other counties; the problem is execution at today's leverage costs, not the market structure itself.

On the carry cost side, the tax and insurance picture is a genuine tailwind. South Carolina's state-average effective property tax rate is 0.57%, flagged as low, and combined with an insurance rate of 0.34%, the blended monthly tax-and-insurance burden comes to $243 on a $319,809 asset. That figure is meaningful: in higher-tax states the same asset might carry $500 to $700 per month in tax and insurance alone. The 0.57% rate deserves credit on your underwrite, though keep in mind this is a state-average estimate per Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township assessments may differ. For an investor stress-testing cash flow, this is one of the few lines on the pro forma that tilts in your favor.

The stability score of 50 warrants attention. At exactly the midpoint of the scoring range, it signals neither a deeply cyclical market nor a structurally anchored one. No economic anchor data was provided for Horry County, so it would be inappropriate to speculate about specific employers or industries driving rental demand. What the data does show is a population of 356,578, large enough to support a diversified tenant pool, but the stability score suggests investors should underwrite for some demand variability rather than assuming steady occupancy.

Compared to its neighbors in the dataset, Horry's rent-to-price ratio of 6.41% is the highest among the counties listed. Greenville County at 5.83%, Anderson at 5.72%, and Pickens at 5.53% all trail Horry meaningfully on that metric, even though Greenville's median rent of $1,598 and Anderson's $1,350 are lower in absolute terms. That spread matters: Horry generates more rent per dollar of purchase price than any of the neighbors shown, which is precisely why its cash-flow score of 64 is the highest in this peer group. Union County at a $129,393 median price is a different category entirely, likely a deep-discount market with corresponding liquidity and demand constraints. Edgefield County at an overall score of 59 edges Horry by one point but no rent data was provided for comparison. An investor should choose Horry over Greenville or Anderson when the priority is rent-to-price efficiency and when they can tolerate the coastal market dynamics that likely contribute to the lower stability score. An investor who prioritizes economic diversification or job-market anchoring, and for whom the rent-to-price advantage of roughly 60 to 80 basis points over Greenville is not decisive, may find the data does not strongly favor Horry over its neighbors at this snapshot.