Charleston housing plan yields $250k houses on peninsula

CHARLESTON — Emily Pigott is thankful every day for her house on the peninsula, and anyone who has struggled to afford a home could understand why.

In the fall of 2023, the median price of a house sold on the Charleston peninsula was more than $1 million, but Pigott’s home was a rare find. She and five others who are now her neighbors were able to buy newly-built houses for less than $240,000 through the city’s Homeownership Initiative .

And some day, whomever Pigott eventually sells her house to will also get a great bargain because city rules lock in the below-market prices for more than a century. The city does this by adding a subsidy and deed restrictions that stay with the property.

The initiative has been running for about 25 years. It hasn’t produced a large number of homes, j