As the state’s capital, Columbia is home to South Carolina’s largest flagship university, which provides a renter pool of students and government employees. More than one in five employees work in the government sector, which is 40 percent more than the national average. Though multifamily growth has slowed, single-family home construction has increased by 67 percent, helping Columbia’s recovery in 2021. Annual rent growth is above the national average, vacancies are tight, and investors are active in the market. Conversion trends are taking off, as over half of Columbia’s apartment communities were constructed before 1995.