Which Mount Pleasant Median Is Yours? Reading Many Sources and a Wide Spread

Why do five sources give five medians?

Start with the period. The Redfin page figure is for February, the Houzeo figure for May, Zillow's sale price for June, Redfin's rolling figure for the three months ending in July and the asking feed for early September. A market that moves with the seasons will not give the same median in February, the slow month, as in the spring or summer, and the Mount Pleasant market, which the first page says sold 114 homes in February against 128 a year earlier, is not a large one in winter.

Then the measure. A median sale price is the middle of closed sales. A value index is a model of what a typical home would be worth if it sold, and Zillow's index is $881,446. A median list price is the middle of asking prices on active listings, and the asking feed puts that at $1,300,000. The September update says explicitly that these series are different measures and are not directly comparable. The asking median is higher than every sale median because the houses on offer skew to the expensive end, and because asking prices run above closing prices.

Then the area. The sources do not define Mount Pleasant identically, as a town, a postal area or a feed polygon, and the Census postal area used below holds 53,045 people. The sources also differ in housing types, since some include condominiums and townhouses and some may not. A median that includes condominiums is lower than one for single-family homes alone.

Finally, the direction. The February and May figures are 7.9% and 7.56% below a year earlier, while the three months to July show a 1.4% rise. Those could be the same market seen through a rolling window as the winter months drop out, or a rebound, or noise. The sources do not say. A seller reading them together should conclude that the market has been roughly flat to slightly down over the past year, with a wide band of uncertainty.

The February reading deserves a second look because it is the oldest of the five. A Redfin page that shows a median of $831,000, 107 days on market against 81 a year earlier and 114 sales against 128 describes a winter month when sales were thin and slow. Whether the page has been refreshed since is not clear from the text, and a reader who finds that figure quoted in a later listing pitch should ask which month it came from. The same caution applies to every figure here: a number without a month is half a number.

Source: Redfin, Houzeo and Southern Bell Living, 2026. Commercial pages with differing periods, areas and definitions; not independently verified.

What do price drops and sale-to-list ratios say?

Two of the sources give a share of listings with price cuts. Redfin's three months to July put it at 32.1% of Mount Pleasant listings with price drops, and the asking feed put it at 46.5% on September 3. The Charleston city comparison in the same update has 30.9%. The two Mount Pleasant figures differ by almost half again, which fits the different definitions: one is a rolling share of listings over three months, the other a snapshot of the active list on one day.

Sale-to-list ratios are in the same range. Redfin's three-month figure is 97.9% and the Houzeo May figure is 97.88%, so the typical house closed about 2% below its list price. That is a narrow discount, and it sits beside a high price-cut share. The two can be true together. A house that cut its price to the level buyers would pay then sold close to the cut price, so the ratio compares the closing price with the final ask, not with the first.

The seller's reading is that the first price matters. Roughly a third to nearly half of listings cut, and the ones that cut did so after a period of silence. The ratio of 97.9% describes houses that found a buyer at their last price. The ones that did not find a buyer are not in a sale-to-list ratio, since they did not sell.

The days figures tell a similar story. Redfin's three months to July give a median of 63 days, the Houzeo May figure is 49 and the asking feed gives 49 median days on market for active listings. February was 107 days on the first page. A swing from 107 to 49 to 63 across the year is seasonal and shows how much the answer depends on the month.

A last way to read the price-drop shares is to ask what a cut costs. The sources give no average size of cut for Mount Pleasant, so this brief gives none. What a seller can say is that a house in the cutting group waited long enough that its owner chose to lower the price, and that a buyer who sees a cut learns that the first price was too high. That lesson affects the negotiation that follows, and it is a reason to choose the first price with care.

Source: Southern Bell Living, September 2026; Houzeo, 2026; Redfin, 2026. Figures as published; not independently verified.

What does the regional report add?

The September update also reports the official July 2026 numbers for the Charleston region from the local association, which it describes as a separate series from the Redfin and Zillow figures. The region recorded 1,698 closed sales, down 1.8% on a year earlier, a median sales price of $449,918, up 4.6%, 5,697 homes for sale, up 4.7%, and 47 days on market, up 4.4%. Pending sales rose 6.4% to 1,689, and the calculated supply was 3.6 months, down 2.7%.

The regional median of $449,918 is about half of the Mount Pleasant medians, which says that Mount Pleasant is among the pricier parts of the region, as one would expect. It also says that a regional headline of a 4.6% rise does not describe Mount Pleasant, where the sources show a range from a 7.9% fall to a 1.4% rise. A seller should use the regional report for what it shows, which is that the region is slightly slower and slightly pricier than a year ago.

The regional days on market of 47 is close to the Houzeo May figure of 49 and the Altos median of 49, and below Redfin's 63. Three of four local readings cluster around 47 to 63 days, which is a more useful band for a seller than any single figure. A house that is priced right and presented well might take that long to go under contract, and a house that is not may take longer.

The report notes that its price figures do not account for seller concessions. That is a point for any seller: a closing price is not the net the buyer paid or the seller received if concessions, credits or repairs were part of the deal. A seller comparing offers should compare nets.

Source: Southern Bell Living, September 2026, citing the Charleston Trident association July 2026 report. Not independently verified.

How can an owner pick the median that matches the house?

Begin with the property type. If the house is a single-family home, the right median is a single-family median, and a figure that mixes in condominiums and townhouses will understate it. If the house is a condominium, the reverse holds. Several of the sources used here do not say which types they include, and an owner should assume that an unlabeled median is a blend. Asking an agent for a single-family-only figure for the same period is a simple first step.

Next, match the period to the season in which the house would be sold. A February median describes a month when fewer houses sell and when the houses that do are often the ones whose owners had to sell. A median for the three months to July describes the busiest part of the year. A seller who plans to list in the spring should compare against last spring, not against last winter, and a seller who plans to sell in the fall should look at the same months a year earlier.

Then match the area. A town-wide median covers waterfront estates, newer subdivisions, older neighborhoods and condominium complexes. The Census postal area has 27,269 homes built over a century, with a quarter built before 1980 and a fifth in the 2010s and later. A house in an older neighborhood does not belong with the new construction, and a house on the water does not belong with either. A seller should ask for sales within the same subdivision or within a short distance, with similar size and age.

Then separate asking prices from sale prices. The asking median of $1,300,000 in early September describes 283 houses that were on offer on one day, and nearly half of them had already cut. It is a record of hope. The sale medians describe what buyers actually paid. A seller who prices at the asking median because it is the highest number on the page will join the 46.5% that cut.

Then look at the direction and not just the level. The Redfin and Houzeo pages show declines of about 8% from the year before, and the rolling three months to July show a rise of 1.4%. The honest summary is that prices are within a few percent of where they were a year ago. A seller who expects a rise or a fall of ten percent should have a specific reason, such as a unique feature of the house.

Finally, remember that none of the figures includes concessions. The regional report notes that its prices do not account for seller concessions. A buyer who paid $900,000 with a $20,000 credit paid $880,000 in effect, and a seller who is quoted a median should ask about concessions. A private buyer who purchases as is does not ask for credits or repairs, and the seller pays no commission and no closing costs, so the number on the offer is closer to the number the seller keeps.

Source: this section is analysis of the figures in the sources cited above; no figure is extended beyond what the sources state.

What does the Census say about the town and its homes?

The postal area that includes Mount Pleasant has 53,045 people and 27,269 homes, of which 23,963 are occupied. Owners live in 15,685 (65.5%) and renters in 8,278 (34.5%). A further 3,306 homes (12.1%) have no usual resident, which includes seasonal and second homes. Median household income is $111,907 and median gross rent is $2,081 a month.

By age, the stock is middle-aged and large. The 1980s account for 5,958 homes (21.8%), the 1990s for 5,272 (19.3%), the 2010s for 5,049 (18.5%), the 1970s for 3,805 (14.0%) and the 2000s for 3,554 (13.0%). Before 1980, there are 6,811 homes (25.0%). Since 2020, 625 have been built (2.3%). The median year built is 1992, so the typical house is 34 years old.

Owners estimate the median home at $755,100, with a margin of error of $39,246, or 5.2%. That estimate is lower than every one of the sale medians above, by between $76,000 and $156,000, which is the normal gap between what owners think and what recent buyers paid, and also a sign that the Census area covers older and smaller homes.

A seller should take two things from this. One is that the typical house in the area is thirty-odd years old and has probably had its roof and cooling equipment replaced once, and may be due again. The other is that more than a third of occupied homes are rented, so a share of the buyers in any year are people who rent now and may be buying their first home.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B01003, B19013, B25002, B25003, B25034, B25064 and B25077.

What does the Charleston clock say?

Realtor.com publishes listing series for the Charleston-North Charleston metropolitan area through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. They show direction, not the level for Mount Pleasant. The median days on market was 44 in April 2026, 45 in May, 51 in June, 57 in July and 58 in August, a lengthening of 14 days in four months. Active listings were 4,188 in May and 4,224 in September, essentially flat (Realtor.com, active listings).

New listings fell from 1,976 in May to 1,520 in August (Realtor.com, new listings). The median listing price was $499,300 in May and $479,450 in September (Realtor.com, median listing price), a decline of 4.0%. Listings with a price reduction rose from 1,876 in May to 2,112 in June and eased to 1,946 in September (Realtor.com, price reduced listings).

The picture is a flat inventory, fewer new listings, a clock that lengthened by two weeks and asking prices that eased. It is a slow market in the second half of summer, not a collapse.

The metropolitan median listing price is far below the Mount Pleasant medians and asks, and the series speak only to direction. The direction matches the sources above in one respect: a clock in the high forties to low sixties and a rising share of cuts. Readers comparing markets can also read the Bluffton brief and the Johns Island brief.

Source: Realtor.com via FRED, Housing Inventory: Median Days on Market, Active Listing Count, New Listing Count, Median Listing Price and Price Reduced Count, Charleston-North Charleston, SC (CBSA).

What would a private sale change for a Mount Pleasant owner?

A direct sale to a buyer who purchases homes off the market changes five things for the seller. There are no showings and no neighbors talking about you selling. The closing date can be flexible, giving time to find a new home. There are no commission costs and no closing costs for the seller. And there are no inspections or repairs, which for a house of thirty-odd years can be the step that most changes the number.

The fee benefit needs no assumed rate. For every 1% of a sale price that would otherwise go to fees, a sale at $755,100 keeps $7,551, a sale at $832,000 keeps $8,320 and a sale at $911,543 keeps $9,115. An owner can set whatever percentage applies against a private offer and compare the two on net proceeds.

The spread of medians gives a second reason to compare carefully. A seller who hears that the market is at $911,543 and a buyer who hears that it is at $831,000 are not looking at the same number, and a negotiation begins at the gap. A private offer is one number, with no listing price to defend and no price drop to take.

The trade-off is the usual one. A public listing can attract competing bids, and on Redfin's measure about two thirds of listings did not need a cut. A private sale offers privacy, a settled date and no repairs in exchange for one offer. The owner decides.

Source: calculation from stated prices; no commission rate, closing cost or repair cost is assumed.

Methodology and limitations

Age, tenure, vacancy, income, rent, population and owner-estimated value come from the American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates for the postal-code area that includes Mount Pleasant. The area is not identical to the town. Shares are calculated from published counts, and owner-estimated value carries a stated margin of error.

Days on market, active listings, new listings, median listing price and price reduced counts are Realtor.com series published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for the Charleston-North Charleston metropolitan area. The series end in August or September 2026. Listing prices are asking prices and not sale prices.

The local figures come from commercial pages and a market update that compiles them. They use different periods, areas and definitions and were not independently verified. The brief makes no forecast and does not estimate what any particular home would sell for.

Conclusion

The public record supports a short list for a Mount Pleasant owner. Six sources give six prices from $831,000 to $1.3 million because they measure different things, between a third and nearly half of listings take a price cut, the typical house is thirty-odd years old and the regional clock has lengthened by two weeks since spring.

It does not support a price for any one home. The choice between a public listing and a private sale comes down to how much an owner values the chance of competing bids against privacy, a flexible closing date, no commission, no closing costs and no inspections or repairs.