Chuck Barberini Real Estate

  Check Out This Weeks Newsletter San Francisco sellers are accepting OpenAI and Anthropic stock as home payment, and every luxury agent in America will be asked about this within 90 days. A nearly $3 million home in San Francisco just hit the market with an unusual ask: the seller will take OpenAI or Anthropic stock as payment. Listing agent Rachel Swann told Fortune she got the idea after watching AI employees show up to her open houses unable to afford homes even though they are worth, on paper, $50 to $100 million. Their wealth is tied up in restricted stock units that won’t vest for years, and the San Francisco housing market isn’t waiting around. Here’s what you need to know about this buyer. Who the AI Wealth Buyer Actually Is Rachel Swann wasn’t the first agent to spot this. In April, investment banker Storm Duncan listed his $8 million Marin County property on LinkedIn offering to exchange it for Anthropic stock. The listing went viral and drew serious interest before he t...

  One of the biggest reasons buyers are still sitting on the sidelines is because they think home prices are going to come down. Some believe a crash is coming and they'll get a better deal if they hold off. Others worry they'll buy now and watch their home's value fall later. And nobody wants to overpay or buy right before values drop. But here's the question worth asking: What if the crash you're waiting for isn't actually coming? Because that's what the latest data suggests. Experts Are Not Calling for a Crash If you've spent any time online lately, you've seen posts claiming home prices are about to come crashing down. And it's true that some markets are seeing small price declines right now. But that's not the same thing as a nationwide crash. While some places are going through a price adjustment, Realtor.com data shows home prices are still rising in 71% of housing markets across the country. The trouble is, since negative news sells,...

  “Just Thinking" I had my topic picked out and had been holding onto it for a couple of weeks, an article I came across in SFGate back in May. I’ve been keeping it in my back pocket, like a bullet in the chamber, ready to fire at the right moment. But before I get into that, there were several impactful events that took place during the first week of June throughout history. I’ll share a few of them and you can decide if they resonate with you as much as they do with me. June 2, 1935 — Babe Ruth retires from baseball, marking the end of one of the most transformative careers in the history of the game. Yet even as he stepped away, his influence continued to shape generations of the ball players who followed. The first time I remember hearing about Babe Ruth was in the 5th grade, I was a little late to the Babe’s story, but still not as late as Smalls. We had a weeknight game at Balboa Field, one of those cold, foggy evenings in SF. A coworker of my dad’s came out to watch us play...

  Check Out This Weeks Newsletter NAR's May 2026 Existing-Home Sales report is out. Here's what the numbers show and how to use them with clients this week. Existing-home sales just hit their highest level since December, up 3.2% month-over-month and year-over-year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million.  Prices reached a record high for May even as affordability improved across every region. Here’s what NAR’s May 2026 Existing-Home Sales report shows and how to use it with clients this week. What the Numbers Show Existing-home sales rose 3.2% from both last month and a year ago, landing at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million in May. That’s the highest sales pace since December, with momentum showing up in three of four regions month-over-month and year-over-year. The national numbers: $429,300 median price, up 1.3% YoY, a record high for May 35th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases 1.55 million units of inventory, up 3.3% ...

 A lot of people who want to move are telling themselves the same thing: "Maybe I'll just wait until later this year once things calm down."   While waiting sounds like a good plan, there's something worth knowing before you decide. Rates aren’t expected to change much, so if that’s the #1 reason you’re waiting, it may not pay off. And there may be other things you miss out on in the meantime.  Historically, Summer is one of the strongest seasons of the year for both buyers and sellers. And if you delay your move until Fall or Winter, some of those opportunities may already be fading. Buyers: Fresh Inventory Is Your Real Summer Advantage One of the biggest frustrations buyers have faced over the past few years has been a lack of affordable options. Maybe you’ve run into that yourself: You find a house you like, but it's out of your budget. You find something in your budget, but you don’t like it. Or worse, nothing interesting hits the market for weeks. Historicall...

 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...