Buying a Home in the Charleston, SC Area: The Peninsula, Mount Pleasant, the Islands, Summerville and What Is Being Built

Drive US 17 north through Mount Pleasant and the roadside stands start to appear, with coiled sweetgrass baskets set out for sale. The families who run them are from the Hamlin community, and the baskets are Gullah Geechee work. In 2006 the sweetgrass basket became South Carolina's state handicraft, and that same year the state named this stretch of road the Sweetgrass Basket Makers Highway (Experience Mount Pleasant). Follow the same highway the other way, over the Ravenel Bridge and onto the peninsula, and the Charleston single house turns a narrow end to the street, one room wide, with a long side porch that locals call a piazza.

I'm Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, a mortgage broker licensed in South Carolina through C2 Financial Corporation, and I have been in the mortgage business since 1996. I work out of Bluffton, in Beaufort County, and I wrote this page for anyone thinking about buying a home somewhere in the Charleston area. The Charleston area runs from the peninsula through Mount Pleasant, the islands, West Ashley and North Charleston to Summerville, Goose Creek and Moncks Corner, and most of its large new neighborhoods are being built in Berkeley and Dorchester counties. I go part by part through those places first, then what is being built, the roads and the November ballot, and after that the things worth looking up on any address before you compare it with another. What I've written here comes from public sources, cited beside the facts that matter most, and it was checked on September 18, 2026.

What should you know about each part of the Charleston area?

Downtown Charleston and the peninsula

Downtown is where the Charleston single house lives, and listings still use the name for it (Post and Courier, February 2024). Live 5 News, covering MUSC's planned 14-story cancer hospital at Ashley Avenue and Calhoun Street, reported that the building stays under downtown's 250-foot height limit (Live 5 News, September 9, 2026). Along the south end of the peninsula, the Low Battery seawall was raised 1.8 feet, and the city finished that work on February 18, 2026 (Live 5 News).

Mount Pleasant

A $40 million sports complex, Gary Santos Park, broke ground in Mount Pleasant in March 2026 and is expected to finish in fall 2027 (Charleston City Paper). New homes are limited by the town: it has capped new residential building permits since January 8, 2019, releasing half of each year's permits on January 1 and half on July 1. Carolina Park, Liberty Hill Farms, affordable housing and tear-down rebuilds are exempt (Town of Mount Pleasant). The Post and Courier reported in 2023 that the town planned to keep the cap in place until 2029.

Its town property tax levy is 44.3 mills, the lowest of the large Charleston County towns (SC Association of Counties, 2025). A levy is a tax rate stated in mills, and a mill is one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value, so a lower town levy means a smaller town share of your bill.

Daniel Island and the Cainhoy peninsula

The Credit One Charleston Open, a WTA 500 tennis tournament played on green clay, is held on Daniel Island, and the 2026 event, the 54th, ran March 30 to April 5 (WTA). The island is inside the City of Charleston, but it is in Berkeley County, so its schools are the Berkeley County School District's and its tax bill comes from Berkeley County (Berkeley County School District).

Across Clements Ferry Road, Point Hope covers 9,000 acres on the Cainhoy peninsula and is approved for up to 18,000 homes. The developer expects 11,000 to 12,000 of them over 15 to 20 years, and more than half the land is wetlands left undeveloped (The Daniel Island News). If you buy there, you'll be on Clements Ferry Road, which is now four lanes from I-526 to SC 41 (ABC News 4).

West Ashley

Charles Towne Landing, in West Ashley on the Ashley River, is the site of the first permanent English settlement in Carolina, from 1670, and it is now a 664-acre state historic site (SC State Parks). Ashley Landing on Sam Rittenberg Boulevard is a 35.5-acre redevelopment that broke ground in May 2025. The plan includes a new Publix, a city park, nine acres of stormwater retention and affordable units, with full completion expected in 2028 (Live 5 News, January 8, 2026). In the Church Creek basin north of Glenn McConnell Parkway, the city, the county and Charleston Water System are working on the Lake Dotterer flood reduction project. If you are looking at a home in that basin, it is worth asking about (Live 5 News, March 11, 2026). West Ashley is inside the City of Charleston, so the city's lines in the tax section below apply to a home here.

James Island

Folly Road is the road across James Island to Folly Beach, and new places keep opening along it. CudaCo. Seafood House opened on it in June 2026, and Three Monkeys Ice Cream Parlour opened at 915 Folly Road on July 13, 2026 (Holy City Sinner, 2026 openings). The Town of James Island, home to 12,660 people in 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau), has incorporated four separate times, and the 2012 version is the one that stood (Wikipedia: James Island). The island is split three ways: about half is in the City of Charleston, part is in the Town, and the rest is unincorporated county land served by the James Island Public Service District (City of Charleston). Which of the three a home falls in changes its tax bill, and the tax section below shows how.

Johns Island

Local planning on Johns Island has used an Urban Growth Boundary from 1999 onward. It is a line on the planning map: suburban-style subdivisions are built inside it, and the land outside it is kept rural. Just under 80% of the island is outside that line (Lowcountry Land Trust). About 28,000 people live on the island (Post and Courier, September 2025), and the Main Road work in the roads section below is the project that changes a commute from there.

Summerville and Nexton

The $160 million Berlin G. Myers Parkway, a bypass around the center of Summerville, opened in April 2025, ahead of schedule (ABC News 4). Summers Corner, a Lennar-led master plan of more than 6,000 acres in Dorchester County, is built as a set of named neighborhoods, Sweetgrass, Heron's Walk and Horizons, the last of them a 55+ section (Summers Corner).

Nexton has a Summerville mailing address, but most of it is in unincorporated Berkeley County, which is the county that sends its tax bill (Post and Courier, January 2026). Its first neighborhood, Brighton Park Village, is nearly sold out at about 700 homes, and a planned 3,000-home neighborhood called Midtown is being built next (Nexton). Midtown Middle School opened on Blueway Avenue in August 2026.

North Charleston

Park Circle is the older core of North Charleston, a round park laid out in a 1912 plan and quartered by four avenues named for the developers: Buist, Durant, Montague and Rhett (Charleston County Public Library). Boeing broke ground in November 2025 on a $1 billion expansion of its North Charleston site, with 1,000 new jobs planned over five years (Boeing). Riverstone High School, a public charter school, opened in the city in August 2026 (Live 5 News), and the new Roper hospital campus in the section below is being built here too.

Goose Creek, Hanahan and Carnes Crossroads

Red Bank Road in Goose Creek is the route to the Weapons Station side of Joint Base Lindsey Graham, formerly Joint Base Charleston. It has been getting sewer upgrades, new medians and resurfacing this year (Post and Courier, Berkeley Independent). The city had 52,010 people in 2025, up 12.9% since 2020 (U.S. Census Bureau).

In Hanahan, the mayor's 2026 plans include widening lanes on Snake Road, a proposed roundabout at the Tanner Plantation entrance, and a traffic study at Yeamans Hall Road and North Rhett Avenue (Berkeley Observer, March 20, 2026). At Carnes Crossroads, Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital finished an expansion on June 10, 2026 that took it from 50 to 100 beds and from 14 to 35 emergency bays (Berkeley Observer).

Moncks Corner

Moncks Corner is the Berkeley County seat. Benny Ernesto's opened at 337 East Main Street in June 2026, and a Cook Out followed on Rembert C. Dennis Boulevard on September 1 (Holy City Sinner, 2026 openings). The town grew 54.8% from 2020 to 2025, from 13,311 people to 20,612 (U.S. Census Bureau), and the town's own study projects 4,550 more homes and about 29,000 residents by 2034. Since May 21, 2025, the town has charged an impact fee, a one-time charge on new construction that helps pay for the roads and services growth needs. It is $4,805 on each new single-family home and $2,606 on each new townhome (Post and Courier, May 25, 2025).

Folly Beach and the other islands

If you are buying on Folly Beach and counting on short-term rental income, the rules are being rewritten this fall. A judge struck down the voter-approved 800-license cap on August 14, 2026. Council then approved a moratorium on new licenses on August 26 and advanced a rewrite of the ordinance on September 15 (Live 5 News). On Isle of Palms, the city awarded a contract in May 2026 to pump new sand onto a long stretch of its beach. The new sand widens the beach in front of the homes along it, which is worth knowing if you are looking at one of them (Live 5 News, April 28, 2026).

What is being built, and where?

Most of the large new neighborhoods are in Berkeley and Dorchester counties: Point Hope on the Cainhoy peninsula, Nexton's Midtown, Summers Corner, Cane Bay and Carnes Crossroads. The Berkeley County School District opened two new schools in August 2026, Bee Tree Elementary near Cane Bay and Midtown Middle in Nexton, paid for by the 2022 penny sales tax (Live 5 News, August 12, 2026). The district also redrew attendance lines around those schools this fall, so it is worth checking the current map for any address you are considering.

Both larger counties have added limits on new growth. In Berkeley County, a rezoning of 75 or more acres, or 75 or more lots, needs a separate County Council vote to lift a standing moratorium (Berkeley County Planning). Charleston County Council adopted Ordinance 2395 on June 25, 2026, which requires new development to show there is enough road and stormwater capacity to serve it (Charleston County).

Three hospital projects are under way. Roper St. Francis is building a $1.2 billion, 328-bed campus in North Charleston with a target completion in 2029 (Medical Construction & Design). MUSC broke ground in April 2026 on an $87 million medical pavilion in Nexton that is set to open in fall 2027 (Berkeley Observer, April 22, 2026). MUSC's 14-story cancer hospital downtown, at Ashley Avenue and Calhoun Street, is expected to be finished in 2030.

Which road projects change a commute?

I-526 west. SCDOT's plan widens I-526 from Paul Cantrell Boulevard to Virginia Avenue and rebuilds the I-26 interchange. The official project site gives the construction window as 2029 to 2039 (I-526 Lowcountry Corridor).

I-526 at Long Point Road. A $227 million project in Mount Pleasant is mainly a truck flyover and spur into the Wando Welch port terminal. If you commute on Long Point Road, you'll be driving through that work (Parsons, via GlobeNewswire, August 3, 2026).

Main Road on Johns Island. The Main Road Segment A interchange where US 17 meets Main Road costs $354 million. It includes four ramps, a roundabout and two bridges. The roundabout and one ramp are targeted for the end of 2026, and the full project for the end of 2028 (Live 5 News, April 21, 2026).

The Mark Clark extension is off the table. The state's Transportation Infrastructure Bank ended the funding contract in May 2025, after the cost estimate passed $2.3 billion (Coastal Conservation League). If you are buying on Johns Island or James Island, you'll want to judge the commute by the roads that are there today plus the Main Road work above, because the extension is no longer coming.

Rivers Avenue. Lowcountry Rapid Transit, the region's first bus rapid transit line, will run from Ladson along Rivers Avenue to downtown. The official site says construction is expected to begin in 2027 (Lowcountry Rapid Transit).

What is on the November 3, 2026 ballot?

Two items on the Charleston County ballot matter to you as a buyer.

The first is a half-cent transportation sales tax, projected to raise about $4.25 billion over 25 years. It splits into roughly $2.7 billion for roads, $860 million for transit and $690 million for the Greenbelt land program (Live 5 News, April 23, 2026). Named projects include Maybank Highway improvements, widening US 17 South from Main Road to SC 162, Johnnie Dodds Boulevard, and an overpass on Rivers Avenue at Durant Avenue. The list also includes the Battery Extension along the west side of the peninsula. A similar county sales tax failed in 2024, with 61.4% voting no (Live 5 News, April 23, 2026).

The second extends the Charleston County School District's existing one-cent sales tax for school construction from its current end date, December 31, 2028, through December 31, 2034. It would raise about $1.25 billion for 23 projects (ABC News 4, July 2026). Both are sales taxes, so neither one adds a line to your property tax bill.

Which county is the home in?

The metro is Charleston County, Berkeley County and Dorchester County. By the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates, Berkeley County grew 19.5% since 2020, to 274,666 people, and added 8,674 people in the last year alone (U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).

Three of the largest towns cross county lines. Summerville is mostly in Dorchester County, with smaller parts in Berkeley and Charleston counties, and the town adds its own tax to homes in all three counties. The City of Charleston and North Charleston both reach into Berkeley County, and North Charleston reaches into Dorchester as well (SC Association of Counties, 2025 Property Tax Rates by County, February 2026 revision).

So when you are comparing two homes or two properties with a Summerville or Charleston address, it is worth asking which county each one is in before you compare the tax figures. The county's property records will tell you.

How does property tax land on a Charleston-area home?

South Carolina assesses a home you live in as your legal residence at 4% of its value, and everything else at 6%. You get the 4% rate only after you apply for it: the Charleston County Assessor states that you must apply and be approved, and that the deadline is "no later than January 15th" (Charleston County Assessor). If your application is still pending when the bill comes due, you pay the bill first and wait for the adjustment, and refunds only reach back two years.

Berkeley County's deadline for the 2025 bill was also January 15, with online filing through the county portal. Dorchester County asks owners to apply "as soon as you move in," and it is a one-time filing unless ownership or use changes. School taxes come in two parts: an operating tax that pays to run the schools, and a debt tax that pays off school construction bonds. A home taxed at the 4% rate is exempt from the operating part and still pays the debt part (SC Association of Counties, 2025).

The rest of the bill depends on where the home is:

• The county levy is 79.4 mills in Dorchester County, 50.6 in Charleston County and 46.5 in Berkeley County.
• The town levy, if the home is inside a town, runs from 16 mills in the Town of James Island to 91.5 in North Charleston.
• A sales tax credit comes off the bill in Charleston and Berkeley counties. The SC Association of Counties' 2025 report lists no such credit for Dorchester County. The credit rate differs by town. The Town of James Island's is the largest of any town in Charleston County, and Goose Creek's is more than three times the rate the City of Charleston uses for its homes in Berkeley County.
• Flat fees are added to the bill. Charleston County charges a $150 solid waste fee per home, and Berkeley County charges a fire fee that runs from $79.88 to $266.25 depending on the home's square footage.

The sales tax credit is the appraised value multiplied by the county's published factor. With a made-up $400,000 value and Charleston County's 2025 factor, the arithmetic looks like this:

Appraised value (invented)          $400,000
Charleston County credit factor   x 0.000820
                                  ----------
Credit subtracted from the bill         $328

If the home is inside the City of Charleston, there is a new $132 line on the tax bill. The city's stormwater fee used to be $11 a month on the Charleston Water System bill. Starting with the 2026 service year, it appears as a single $132 annual charge on the property tax bill from Charleston and Berkeley counties (City of Charleston).

A purchase also resets the home's taxable value, and that reset shows up on your second bill. I explain the timing in detail on the Bluffton property tax page, and it works the same way here. There is a plain-English version of the same idea in what happens to your property taxes after you buy.

What is the flood picture?

Charleston Harbor recorded 52 tidal floods in 2025, the kind that put water in the street on a clear day, and more than 70% of the major ones on record have happened since 2015 (Post and Courier, December 31, 2025).

The base flood elevation is the height FEMA expects floodwater to reach in a major flood. Since July 1, 2020, new construction inside the City of Charleston's flood hazard area has had to be built two feet above it (City of Charleston). Unincorporated Charleston County earned a Class 2 rating in FEMA's Community Rating System, which as of 2023 meant a 40% discount on National Flood Insurance Program premiums (Post and Courier, June 2023). Each town inside the county has its own rating, so the flood insurance discount on a given property depends on which town it is in.

The city is also spending on defenses. The Spring and Fishburne drainage project, which serves about 20% of the peninsula, is a $200 million tunnel and pump system that was in its final phase in June 2026 (Live 5 News). The Battery Extension, a planned wall of about 7.8 miles around the peninsula with Army Corps of Engineers funding, is still in design (City of Charleston).

South Carolina's seller disclosure form asks about past flood insurance claims and flood history, so you can read the seller's answers on any home you are considering. For a property in FEMA's high-risk flood area, called the Special Flood Hazard Area, the lender will require flood insurance, and that premium becomes part of your monthly payment. I explain how to price the flood insurance into your payment before you make an offer in buying a home in a flood zone.

What changed at the joint base?

Joint Base Charleston was officially renamed Joint Base Lindsey Graham at a ceremony on August 10, 2026 (Live 5 News). It is home to the 437th and 315th Airlift Wings, which fly the C-17, and you may still see the old name on some paperwork and listings. If you are relocating on orders, how VA loans work in South Carolina covers entitlement, the funding fee and what an attorney closing changes.

How do these facts reach your mortgage?

Home prices vary a lot across the three counties. Year to date through August 2026, the median detached home sold for $728,800 in Charleston County, $421,200 in Berkeley County and $400,000 in Dorchester County (Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS, Local Market Updates, current as of September 9, 2026). Daniel Island and downtown Charleston ran above $2 million.

That spread decides which loan limits matter to you. The 2026 conforming and FHA limits for all three counties are in the box below this article. The conforming limit is the largest loan Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will buy in a county, and a loan above it is called a jumbo loan. The page on conforming versus jumbo loans explains what changes when a loan crosses that limit.

Taxes, insurance and any association dues are all part of the monthly payment that a lender qualifies you on. So the facts above feed straight into the number: the 4% classification, the town levy, the $132 stormwater charge, flood insurance and a builder's impact fee. Pre-approval in South Carolina covers what the letter is based on, and the South Carolina page covers attorney closings and the rest of the state's rules.

When you're ready, you can run your numbers for a Charleston-area purchase: rates for your scenario and South Carolina closing costs, with no credit pull and no account. Choose the option that works best for you, and the application opens from there.

Nothing here is a loan approval, a denial or a commitment to lend, and it is not tax advice. Assessment classification and the value applied to a specific parcel are set by that county's assessor, so please confirm them with the county office.

Common questions

Is Daniel Island in Charleston County or Berkeley County?

Daniel Island is inside the City of Charleston, but it is in Berkeley County. Its property tax bill comes from Berkeley County, and it is served by the Berkeley County School District. The same is true of the Cainhoy peninsula, where Point Hope is being built.

How do I get the 4% property tax rate in Charleston County?

You apply to the Charleston County Assessor, and the assessment is not changed until the application is approved. The county's deadline is January 15. If the application is still pending when the bill is due, you pay the bill first and receive an adjustment later, and refunds only reach back two years. Berkeley and Dorchester counties run their own applications.

What is the new stormwater charge on my City of Charleston tax bill?

It is the City of Charleston's stormwater fee. It used to be billed every month on the Charleston Water System bill. Starting with the 2026 service year, the city collects a full year of it as one charge on the property tax bill from Charleston and Berkeley counties.

Is I-526 being extended to Johns Island and James Island?

No. The Mark Clark extension ended in May 2025, when the state's Transportation Infrastructure Bank ended the funding contract. The major road project on Johns Island now is the Main Road interchange at US 17, targeted for completion at the end of 2028.

Why is it hard to find new construction in Mount Pleasant?

Mount Pleasant has capped new residential building permits since January 2019, releasing half of each year's permits on January 1 and half on July 1. Carolina Park, Liberty Hill Farms, affordable housing and tear-down rebuilds are exempt. Most of the metro's large new neighborhoods are in Berkeley and Dorchester counties instead.

What is Joint Base Lindsey Graham?

It is the new name for Joint Base Charleston, made official at a ceremony on August 10, 2026. It is the same installation, home to the 437th and 315th Airlift Wings, with the Weapons Station side in Goose Creek reached by Red Bank Road.