Chuck Barberini Real Estate

You've probably heard that home prices are cooling off. And that's true – nationally. But zoom in on individual markets across the country, and the picture looks completely different depending on where you are. Some areas are still seeing solid price growth. Others have gone flat. A few have actually dipped slightly negative. So, what's causing all of that variation?   It All Comes Down to Inventory Here's the simple version: When there are more homes for sale, buyers have options. More options, means less competition. Less competition means sellers can't push prices as high. On the flip side, when inventory is tight, buyers are competing over a small pool of homes, and that pushes prices up. That dynamic is playing out right now in a really visible way across the country.  Markets where inventory has climbed back to, or above, normal pre-pandemic levels are seeing prices flatten or fall slightly. Markets where inventory is still well below those 2019 benchmarks are...

“Just Thinking" Last week I went on a full-on Giants rant, and I thought I got it out of my system… but nope, I got sucked right back in. I was at the game today at Pac Bell Park, SBC Park, AT&T Park… I mean, Oracle Park, watching them take on the Oakland, Sacramento, Las Vegas A’s. It was a beautiful day in the city, and I enjoyed being out at the park. The Giants take a 6–5 lead into the 9th. Two on, two out. You’re thinking, just get one more out and get out of here. Instead? The bullpen gives up four straight hits. Four runs. Game over. They gave up seven runs over the last three innings. Terrible. Just terrible. I did, however, have some thoughts out at the old ballpark today that are worth sharing. Was Brian Wilson, the Giants closer from 2008 to 2012, a nut job, a trendsetter, or just ahead of his time? I’m sitting there at the game, and you look at the Giants, they are wearing orange spikes, purple spikes, black and white spikes. The A’s? Green, gold, white, black spik...

  Check Out This Weeks Newsletter Redfin reports that 46.2% of U.S. home sellers gave concessions to buyers in May 2026, the highest share on record for that month. Nearly half of all U.S. home sellers handed buyers a concession in May, the highest share Redfin has recorded for that month in its history. According to Redfin’s latest report, 46.2% of home sales included a seller concession in May 2026, up from 43.1% a year earlier. There are currently 47% more sellers than buyers in the U.S., and with mortgage rates and home prices still historically high, buyers have more leverage than they’ve had in years. Listings are piling up, and sellers in most markets are competing hard to get deals done. Here’s where concession rates are highest and where they’re lowest.  Why Concession Rates Are at a Record High The supply and demand imbalance is driving everything, and it runs deepest in the Sun Belt. Those metros built aggressively to meet pandemic-era demand and are now sitting on ...

That House That’s Been Sitting Could Be Your Best Shot at a Deal Open up a home search and you'll see them. Listings that have been on the market for two months. Three. Some longer. Most buyers scroll right past them, assuming something’s wrong with the house. But that instinct could be costing you, since the longer a home sits, the more motivated the seller usually gets. Where Some Buyers Are Finding Better Deals If affordability has been your #1 hurdle to buying, here’s a surprisingly simple strategy that could help you finally get your foot in the door. Start with the homes that have been sitting the longest. That’s often where the best deals are. Here’s why. Data from Realtor.com shows there’s a connection between longer time on the market and lower sales prices. Basically, the longer a house sits, the more likely it is that the seller will reduce the price (see graph below) :   The blue line tracks how long homes stay on the market, while the green line trac...

“Just Thinking" It’s the middle of June, and for the Giants this is usually when the annual “June Swoon” sets in, but this year, it raises a different question: how do you swoon in June when the entire season has already felt like one long swoon? And yet, I’ll admit, I’ve been sucked in at times. I’ve let myself believe a stretch of decent baseball meant something was turning. Only to get pulled right back to reality, like so many fans, with another gut-punch loss just when it felt like things might finally be different. My hook on changing the channel is way quicker than Tony Vitello’s hook with the bullpen and honestly, that’s burned me more than once this year. I’m thinking of June 10 th , the Giants-Nationals game. I bailed early when they were down 9–1, like second inning, I figured I’d seen enough. To be fair, I had an appointment during the later innings, so I was unable to watch anyway, but while in my meeting my Giants app on my phone started blowing up, notifications goi...

  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...

  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...