Cooling in the rental index is the immediate signal for ZIP 29579, but it sits beside a much stronger older rental path and a softer resale reading discussed below. In June 2026, Zillow’s ZIP ZORI was $1,696 per month, down 1.09% from the same month a year earlier. ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types; it is not a lease ledger or an estimate for a specified bedroom count. The five-digit 29579 label is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP, so matching labels do not make the underlying evidence universes interchangeable.
Source choice explains why the rent benchmarks differ. In the matched Census ZCTA, the ACS 2024 five-year survey puts median gross rent at $1,617 for occupied renter homes, and that measure includes selected utilities. It is neither a current asking-rent series nor a bedroom-specific quote, so its lower level should not be read as a conflict with ZORI. The FY2026 local HUD two-bedroom standard is $1,465; HUD FMR/SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than asking rent. For wider context only, the Myrtle Beach city-scope rent is $1,676, the Horry County-scope rent is $1,662, and the Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC metro-scope rent is $1,708; none substitutes for this ZIP’s measure.
At exact same-month intervals, the 1-year ZORI change was -1.09% annualized, the 3-year change was -0.16% annualized, and the 5-year change was +4.39% annualized. The recent decline and nearly flat intermediate result break from, rather than confirm, the earlier five-year increase; all are backward-looking measurements, not forecasts or investment recommendations. The history has 100% coverage. Annualized variability in its monthly returns was 3.05%, so the current index is a point within a moving historical series rather than a precise fixed rent. Its maximum drawdown was -2.61%, a separate record of the largest historical pullback. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 2,612 for momentum, 1,708 for stability, and 2,602 for the balanced measure; lower ranks place higher.
Income and burden screens point in different directions because they answer different aggregate questions. The ACS ZCTA median household income is $79,644, while the income associated with paying the current ZORI at the arithmetic 30% screen is $67,840 annually. That produces a 25.55% asking-rent-to-income screen at the ZIP median, but it is arithmetic, not advice and not an applicant qualification rule. In the ACS survey, 44.2% of occupied renter households were at or above the gross-rent burden threshold. This burden statistic concerns survey households and selected-utility gross rent, not an assertion that any particular available unit is affordable or that a specific tenant has a given burden.
Bedroom sizing should not be inferred as if it were observed local rent. Scaling the ZIP ZORI with the local HUD ladder produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,326 for a studio, $1,423 for one bedroom, $1,696 for two bedrooms, $2,090 for three bedrooms, and $2,444 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates, never measured bedroom rents: they retain the ZIP index’s level while using the local HUD ladder only for relative bedroom scaling. The alignment of the two-bedroom estimate with ZORI is mechanical, not independent validation of a two-bedroom asking-rent market.
The ACS ZCTA counts 25,682 housing units and reports a 13.65% vacancy rate. Its stock is predominantly single-family by the available structure counts, with 18,163 such units and 1,279 units in large multifamily structures. Of the measured vacant categories, 1,827 units are seasonal. This composition can frame the type of stock represented in the statistical area, but it does not reveal a current rental listing, effective rent, lease terms, or vacancy at a particular unit. Seasonal vacancy is especially not evidence that a specific home can be rented now. The stock and vacancy estimates should therefore remain separate from Zillow’s observed asking-rent index and from Redfin resale activity.
Direct ZIP resale data present the sharper near-term tension. In Redfin’s rolling-three-month observation, the median sold price was $371,166, down 4.34% year over year; 479 homes sold and median marketing time was 91 days. For-sale inventory was 624 homes, equivalent to 3.9 months of supply. The average sale-to-list ratio was 97.18%, while 6.01% of homes sold above list. These are ZIP for-sale/resale observations, not rental transactions or rental comparables. The resale price decline is steeper than the current rent-index decline, challenging any simple reading of the longer rental history or income screen as uniformly firm. Annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the median sold price is 5.48%, but that is only a cross-source screening ratio and cannot establish property-level economics.
Each source has limits that remain material after the comparisons. ZORI summarizes blended asking rents, ACS is a five-year survey of occupied homes with sampling uncertainty, HUD is an administrative standard, and the resale window records completed for-sale activity. Neither backward-looking rent history nor a resale screening ratio forecasts future rents, prices, or a particular unit’s availability. A property-level review would need the exact bedroom count and property type, current advertised rent and utility treatment, lease length, availability date, and the relevant list and sale records before comparing any unit with these ZIP-level series. It should also distinguish an actual listing from a statistical vacancy category. What unit-specific documents would resolve the gap between this ZIP screen and the property being evaluated?
","findings":[{"body":"Zillow’s current ZIP asking-rent index is $1,696 and its exact same-month change is -1.09%. The longer five-year annualized change remains +4.39%, so the recent cooling does not erase the earlier path. Complete series coverage supports continuity of the historical record, but each direction measure is backward-looking and does not project a future rent.","title":"Asking rent is cooling, not uniformly weak"},{"body":"The aggregate income screen places the current index below the arithmetic 30% share of the ZCTA median household income, yet ACS reports 44.2% of renter households at or above the gross-rent burden threshold. These statements are not inconsistent: one compares ZIP index rent with median household income, while the other summarizes surveyed renter households.","title":"Affordability has two distinct aggregate readings"},{"body":"The HUD-scaled ladder gives consistent bedroom ordering, from $1,326 for a studio to $2,444 for four bedrooms, with $1,696 at two bedrooms. It is useful only as a modelled ZIP estimate. It does not observe a bedroom-specific asking-rent sample, transaction, utility package, or lease term.","title":"Bedroom figures are scaled estimates"},{"body":"Redfin’s direct ZIP resale observation shows a $371,166 median sold price, a 4.34% annual decline, 91 days of marketing time, and a 97.18% average sale-to-list ratio. Those for-sale signals are softer than the recent rent-index movement. The 5.48% annualized-rent-to-price calculation remains a cross-source screen rather than a property-level economic result.","title":"Resale softness is a separate challenge"}],"risks":["The matched ZCTA is a statistical area rather than a USPS delivery ZIP, so ACS household, stock, vacancy, and burden estimates may not map exactly to every address carrying the 29579 mailing label.","ZORI blends observed asking rents across rental types, whereas ACS gross rent covers occupied renter homes and selected utilities; their comparison cannot determine rent, utilities, concessions, or lease terms for a particular listing.","The historical series has complete coverage but records prior index movement, including a recent decline and earlier growth; it cannot establish future direction or the rent path of an individual property.","Redfin’s rolling resale statistics reflect for-sale transactions rather than rental activity. The rent-to-price screen cannot replace property-specific records on bedroom count, rent and utility terms, unit condition, or current availability."],"qa":[{"a":"Zillow reports a current ZIP asking-rent index that blends rental types. ACS is a five-year survey of occupied renter homes and its median gross rent includes selected utilities. HUD supplies a bedroom-specific administrative standard. Their timing, target homes, included costs, and intended uses differ, so the dollar values should remain separate.","q":"Why do the Zillow, ACS, and HUD rent figures differ?"},{"a":"The bedroom ladder starts with the ZIP ZORI level and applies the local HUD relative bedroom pattern, producing modelled monthly estimates. It does not replace a measured bedroom-specific rent series. The result should be matched against a property’s exact bedroom count and utility treatment before a reader compares it with any actual advertised amount.","q":"How should the bedroom ladder be used?"},{"a":"No. Dividing the current ZIP index by the stated 30% share creates an arithmetic required-income screen, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. ACS burden is also an aggregate survey measure of occupied renter households. Neither figure proves what a specific household can pay or what a particular unit will cost.","q":"Does the income screen mean a specific household can afford a listing?"},{"a":"Redfin supplies a direct rolling-three-month ZIP for-sale/resale observation: price, sales volume, marketing time, inventory, supply, and sale-to-list measures. It helps test whether the resale backdrop moves with or against rent signals, but it is not rental-comparable evidence. Its rent-to-price calculation is only a cross-source screening ratio.","q":"What does Redfin add to this report?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallback","release":"ZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR 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