Today: A thin national news cycle yields no Columbia-specific data this morning. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act may eventually funnel subsidized housing dollars into Richland County, a multi-state student housing portfolio trade signals institutional appetite near the Midlands, and proprietary reverse mortgages are gaining share in a rate environment that matters for Fort Jackson retirees.
Market Pulse
No new rate, inventory, or pricing data specific to the Columbia MSA surfaced today. National headlines were dominated by international housing starts (Seoul) and municipal permit filings in Jonesboro, AR, and San Francisco, none with Midlands implications.
What to watch: With no fresh local data points, this is a good week to pull your own MLS comps for Richland and Lexington Counties. If you are tracking DOM trends or median price movement for fall listing strategy, the next Redfin or Zillow monthly data drop (typically mid-month) will be the next actionable benchmark.
USC & Student Housing
- Institutional capital is chasing student housing at scale. Scion Group and Ares Management closed a mid-nine-figures acquisition of student housing complexes across Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia, one of the largest student housing deals of 2026. (Commercial Observer)
- Columbia angle: USC's Five Points and Innovista corridors remain undersupplied relative to enrollment growth. When institutional buyers are paying nine-figure prices for purpose-built student housing in SEC markets, Columbia assets with proximity to USC's campus should be priced accordingly. If you own or manage student housing near campus, this is validation that your asset class has deep-pocketed buyers. If you are looking to acquire, expect cap rate compression on stabilized student product near USC.
Commercial & Investment
- 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act signed into law. Described as the largest single piece of federal housing legislation in decades, the act is designed to foster new housing construction, particularly subsidized units. Skeptics note it may generate more legal fees than actual units. "It does nothing other than make people spend money on lawyers," said Toby Cobb of 3650 Capital. (Commercial Observer)
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Columbia angle: Richland County's affordable housing pipeline has been slow. If ROAD Act funding flows to state housing finance agencies (SC State Housing is the local conduit), developers with LIHTC experience should start tracking allocation timelines now. The legislation also carries implications for mixed-use zoning applications pending before Richland County Council. Do not wait for state-level guidance; get your pre-applications in queue.
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Tax-exempt CMBS debt gaining traction for affordable housing. This niche financing option can carry lower costs of capital than standard taxable CMBS or agency-backed affordable housing loans from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. (Commercial Observer)
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Columbia angle: For multifamily developers working on affordable or workforce housing in the Midlands, tax-exempt CMBS could shave 50-100 bps off your cost of capital compared to conventional agency debt. Worth a conversation with your capital markets advisor, especially for projects in Opportunity Zones along North Main or in the Broad River Road corridor.
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Accelerated depreciation assets (gas stations, car washes, oil change sites) are the hottest net-lease product nationally. Buyers are chasing them for tax benefits. (Commercial Observer)
- Columbia angle: If you hold single-tenant NNN properties along Two Notch Road, Garners Ferry, or Harbison Boulevard with auto-service or fuel tenants, you are sitting on a seller's market for these assets. List them aggressively; 1031 buyers from higher-cost markets are actively looking for yield in secondary MSAs like Columbia.
Property Management & Rentals
- Proprietary reverse mortgages now account for roughly 50% of all reverse mortgage originations nationally, up sharply from near-zero five years ago. Second-lien reverse products let homeowners keep a low-rate first mortgage while tapping equity. (HousingWire)
- Columbia angle: Fort Jackson retirees and long-tenured Richland County homeowners who locked in sub-4% rates in 2020-2021 are prime candidates. Property managers advising aging-in-place clients should have a reverse mortgage lender referral ready. This is also relevant for estate planning conversations with probate-adjacent properties: a reverse second lien can fund needed repairs without forcing a sale.
Industry & Legal
- New York state may impose retail rent control and expand restrictions on rent-stabilized apartments following an influx of Democratic Socialist legislators. A potential large-scale data center development moratorium is also in play. (Commercial Observer)
- Columbia angle: South Carolina's landlord-friendly regulatory environment is the polar opposite. If New York tightens rent regulation further, expect continued capital migration to business-friendly Sun Belt markets, Columbia included. This reinforces the case for marketing Midlands multifamily assets to out-of-state investors fleeing regulatory risk. SCREC and SC state law have no rent control provisions, and that is a selling point worth emphasizing in your offering memoranda.