December 2026 Tax Sales in South Carolina
December in South Carolina, in numbers
South Carolina's fall deed season ends the way it ran all autumn: with one very large coastal list. Horry County — Myrtle Beach and Conway — puts 1,990 parcels on the block in person on Tuesday, December 1, 2026. The median published opening bid is $2,464; the list runs from $109 to $273,089, and the combined opening bids total $9,696,985.
The list is already tightening. When we rounded up the biggest sales of the next 30 days on November 3, Horry's published list stood at 2,342 parcels; it now stands at 1,990. Owners pay up and parcels withdraw right up to sale day — the list that sells on December 1 will be smaller than today's, which is exactly why the live list matters more than any snapshot.
- 1 tax sale · 1,990 parcels · Tuesday, December 1, 2026
- $9,696,985 combined published opening bids — median $2,464
- Largest December sale on our national calendar
- List already down from 2,342 parcels (November 3) as owners redeem
How South Carolina sales work
South Carolina sells redeemable tax deeds, and the bidding is premium — highest bid wins; it is not a bid-down interest auction. If the owner redeems within 12 months of the sale, the buyer gets the bid back plus interest that steps up the longer redemption takes: 3% in the first quarter, then 6%, 9%, and 12% in the final quarter. Critically, that interest is capped at the taxes-and-costs amount — every dollar of premium above it earns nothing, which is why disciplined ceilings matter more in South Carolina than almost anywhere else.
Horry County publishes no assessed values with this list in the data we ingest, so no ceiling estimates are shown for this sale. The opening bids are taxes, interest and costs — the starting point for bidding math, never a statement of what a property is worth.
Before Tuesday: how to work this list
Nobody researches 1,990 parcels one at a time in the final days. Start from the full list on the Horry County page linked below, screen for the areas and property types you actually buy, verify each finalist against county records, and confirm registration, deposit and payment rules with the county tax sale office well before December 1. Keep re-checking the list as the sale approaches — hundreds of parcels have already come off it since November 3.
The full Horry County list — live
All 1,990 live parcels for the December 1 sale, exactly as Horry County published them and refreshed as the list changes — plus the one-time full report for this sale, emailed right after checkout.
Questions
Is the published opening bid the price of the property?
No. The opening bid is the delinquent taxes, interest and costs the county published, and premium bidding decides the final price. The opening bid says nothing about the property's market value.
When does the buyer get the deed?
Not at the sale. The owner has 12 months from the sale date to redeem by repaying the bid plus tiered interest (3% to 12%). Only if the property is not redeemed does the successful bidder receive a tax deed after the period expires.
Keep learning
New to a term on this page? The tax sale glossary defines every concept in plain English, and the FAQ hub answers the 25 questions investors ask most — all sourced from the same state-law dataset as our law library.
South Carolina: sale calendar · every county · tax sale laws · investing guide
Horry sells December 1 with 1,990 parcels — the biggest list of the month, anywhere.
LienToDeed scans published tax-sale lists nationwide and texts you when new properties are listed in your states — scored, with a conservative ceiling estimate or max rate where the data supports one.