Chuck Barberini Real Estate

  Check Out This Weeks Newsletter Realtor.com's 2026 midyear forecast shows home price growth slowing to 1.2% while mortgage rates hold steady and affordability improves for buyers. Realtor.com’s Mid-Year Forecast downgrades its home price growth projection to 1.2% for 2026, one full percent down from the original 2.2% projection.  The revised figure puts price growth even further below the 3.4% projected inflation rate, further reducing the share of household income going to monthly housing costs even as other costs rise to squeeze homebuyer budgets.  Read on for key data points you’ll want to include in your conversations with clients.  Home Price Growth Is Cooling Faster Than Expected Realtor.com downgraded its price growth forecast for the year, and it’s not keeping pace with inflation. Price growth forecast: 1.2% for 2026, down from the original 2.2% projection Year to date price growth: 1.0% over last year Projected inflation for 2026: 3.4% Sellers are respondi...

  Check Out This Weeks Newsletter Bank of America’s 2026 Homebuyer Insights Report shows that 53% of consumers now favor buying, and confidence in homeownership is up across every attitude the survey measured. Affordability is still the number one barrier, and it’s gotten worse since last year. But fewer buyers are waiting for perfect conditions.  Here’s what the data shows.  90% Say a Home Is a Valuable Investment (Up 11 Points YoY) Based on 2026 survey responses, homeownership sentiment went up across every measured attitude compared to the 2025 survey:  90% say a home is a valuable investment, up from 79% in 2025 94% say homeownership provides stability, up from 83% in 2025 87% say owning a home feels like a milestone, up from 78% in 2025 86% say owning a home brings emotional fulfillment, up from 75% in 2025 32% say they’re more confident in their ability to buy this year, up from 27% in 2025 This is essential data for both buyer agents and listing agents. Your b...

“Just Thinking" Tomorrow, we celebrate our nation's independence, a monumental day every year, but even more meaningful this year as we celebrate America's 250th birthday. Having lived through our nation's Bicentennial in 1976, I feel truly blessed to be here to celebrate another monumental anniversary, with the freedoms and opportunities that make this country so special. "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." — Ronald Reagan Every year, Tracy and I make our way downtown to watch the Martinez 4 th of July parade. It's a fun tradition, a wonderful display of patriotism, community spirit, and small-town America that feels like it came straight from a Norman Rockwell painting. This year, however, there is a little twist with a little more excitement, rather than merely watching from the sidelines, I'll be participating in this year’s parade. I have decorations for my truck, I couple of flag poles, one with Old Glory and one w...

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...