South Carolina's Colonial Land Market: An Analysis of Rural Property Sales, 1720-1775

This study analyzes noncredit, rural property transfers from colonial South Carolina. These records are used to measure the frequency, annual timing, geographic spread, and turnover rate of land sales. These data also are used to derive a hedonic land-price index. We argue that these estimates reflect variations in the local expectations of future economic growth and conclude that the rapid increase in land prices reflected the fact that the Lowcountry economy was indeed fueled by plantation agriculture.