Chuck Barberini Real Estate

 If affordability has been the biggest thing standing between you and a home, there's a little good news.   Asking prices have started to come down. The typical seller listed their house for a median of $429,500 in May. That’s 2.4% lower than a year ago, according to Realtor.com . On its own, that won't transform what you can afford, but in today’s market every little bit helps and it signals a broader shift taking place. Buyers Are Finally Catching a Break Check out this data from Realtor.com and you can see this is the first May in years where buyers have caught any sort of break price-wise. Each May from 2022-2025, things held pretty steady. But this year? You can see that more noticeable shift in your favor (see graph below) : While the dip from $440,000 to $429,500 isn’t a big one, it gives you more breathing room. And that’s not a small thing when affordability has been this tough. Now, lower asking prices don’t mean every home is suddenly within your range. But they do...

  Whether you're dreaming about buying your first home or wondering if it’s time to move on from the one you're in, affordability is probably weighing on your mind. Home prices are still high in many markets, and even though things have improved a bit over the past year, making the numbers work can still feel like a stretch. But the people finding ways to move right now usually have one thing in common. They didn't wait for affordability to come to them. They went looking for it. According to PODS , 61% of people across all generations say affordability is the biggest factor when deciding where to move. And it's led a growing number of people to do one thing – broaden their search to include more affordable areas they hadn't seriously considered before. As PODS , put it: ". . . moving is increasingly driven by affordability, connection, and quality of life. As economic pressures persist, Americans are taking a more intentional, values-driven approach to where ...

  “Just Thinking" When you think of historic basketball coaches, several legendary names immediately come to mind. Phil Jackson, with his 11 NBA championships, Pat Riley’s five NBA titles, Red Auerbach set the standard, capturing nine NBA championships, Coach Norman Dale, Hoosiers. Coach K with five national championships and three Olympic gold medals, Bobby Knight’s three national titles and a 29 year run at Indiana. Dean Smith, Coach Carter and Jimmy Valvano, “Don’t give up… don’t ever give up.” The list goes on, and many notable figures could be added, but when I think of the truly iconic basketball coach, one name stands above the rest, John Wooden, the “Wizard of Westwood.” On June 4, 2010, Wooden passed away at the age of 99, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy. He was not only revered for his unparalleled success, leading UCLA to 10 national championships, but also for the timeless coaching philosophy and values he instilled in his players and the game itself. Woodend wa...

    Check Out This Weeks Newsletter Cash buyers just hit their lowest share since 2020. Here's what the data means for financed buyers and the script to get them off the sidelines. For the past few years, financed buyers have had it rough. On top of affordability challenges, cash offers were everywhere, and sellers loved them. Buyers without a pile of liquid money felt like they were showing up to a gunfight with a water pistol.  A lot of those buyers eventually just stopped showing up.  Good news for those buyers? The water’s getting warmer. According to a new Redfin report, 28.8% of U.S. home purchases were made in all cash in March 2026. That’s tied for the lowest March share since 2020, and it’s down from 29.8% just a year ago.  The all-cash surge that peaked at nearly 35% in 2023 is cooling off, and the buyers who got squeezed out during that run should be on your call list right now. The conditions that made cash offers nearly impossible to beat have ...

  “Just Thinking" On May 27, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge officially opened for a pedestrian day, which was unlike anything the city had ever seen. Thousands of people stepped onto the newly finished span, eager to celebrate the much-anticipated opening and to take advantage of a chance to stroll high above the churning waters of the Golden Gate. By the end of the day, more than 200,000 people had crossed the bridge. There was no single “first walker”, just a surge of humanity claiming the moment together. One person of note was Donald Bryan, a college sprinter who made his mark by becoming the first person to cross the entire span, running the full distance. The following day, the bridge opened to automobiles, transforming it from an engineering marvel into a vital artery connecting San Francisco to Marin County and beyond. Frank Pierce Doyle, the Santa Rosa banker often called the “father of the Golden Gate Bridge,” is credited with being the first to ride across, while his chau...

  Check Out This Weeks Newsletter A new NAR and Realtor.com report finds middle-income households can access only 23% of listings nationwide, and the U.S. needs 311,000 more homes priced under $261,000 to close the gap. More listings have hit the market over the past year, and that’s great news. The problem? Most of those listings are priced in a range that leaves a huge chunk of buyers out in the cold. A new joint report from the National Association of REALTORS and Realtor.com has the numbers to back that up. They built something called the Listing-Income Alignment Score, a metric designed to measure how well the homes available for sale actually match what local households can afford to spend. Long story short: things are getting better, but the difference between what’s for sale and what buyers can afford to buy is still wide enough to keep a lot of people on the sidelines.  Here’s what the data shows, and what it means for the conversations y...