Fact Pack!
By Hightower Las Vegas and RCG Economics on December 16, 2025
This week’s November Jobs Report — not yet available when this edition of Fact Pack went to print — and Thursday’s CPI Inflation Data will guide the Federal Reserve’s what’s-next interest rate decisions, along with corporate earnings reports and job creation data.
Which leads us to our focus on…
Southern Nevada Housing Market
The Las Vegas Realtors reported that Southern Nevada’s housing market in November marked a record-high median price for existing single-family homes ($488,995), a 1.9 percent increase from the same month last year. The median price for condos and townhomes reached $303,750, up 0.8 percent year over year (Y0Y) but still below the October peak.
In November, just 1,918 properties changed hands. Single-family home sales decreased 6.6 percent from November 2024, and condo and townhome sales declined 20.2 percent. MLS values predictably declined YoY year for both homes and attached properties.
Southern Nevada saw some market volatility throughout 2024, and though 31,305 residential units sold — including single-family homes, condominiums, and townhouses — it was the lowest number of units sold in the region since 2008.
Inventory has expanded significantly compared to last year: November ended with 7,033 single-family homes listed without offers, and 2,613 condos and townhomes available. The market now carries roughly 5 months of housing supply, up from about 3 months a year earlier.
Reno-Sparks Housing Market
We are pleased to thank Guy Johnson and the Reno Realty Blog for this helpful assembly of November data:
Source: Reno Realty Blog As of November 2025
Source: Reno Realty Blog As of November 2025
Source: Reno Realty Blog As of November 2025
Much more data and analysis here.
U.S. Housing Inventory
Realtor.com reports that active inventory in November was up 12.6 percent year over year (YoY), but new listings fell by 7.4 percent YoY.
Fact Pack co-publisher and economist John Restrepo:
Inventory growth continues to be driven more by already-listed homes lingering longer on the market than by new listings, which are up by a more modest 5.5 percent YTD. With roughly 1 million homes for sale across the U.S. last week — the 32nd consecutive week at or above the that mark — buyers in many markets have a wider selection than a year ago, while sellers are seeing more competition.
The median listing price fell 1.2 percent YoY in November, and year over year adjusting for home size, the price per square foot fell 1.1 percent, dipping for the 14th consecutive week.
Table source: Realtor.com As of 12/6/25
Homebuilder Confidence + Price Drops
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Homebuilder Confidence Index for December 2025 rose slightly to 39, up from 38 in November, but remains in negative territory (below 50), indicating challenging market conditions with rising supply and labor costs, economic uncertainty, and affordability issues for buyers.
The components of the index showed mixed results, with current sales (42) and future sales (52) improving, but buyer traffic staying flat at 26.
The latest survey revealed that 40 percent of builders reported cutting prices in December, marking the second consecutive month the share has been at 40 percent or higher since May 2020. (It was 41 percent in November.)
The average price reduction was 5 percent in December, down from the 6 percent rate in November. Notably, the use of sales incentives was 67 percent in December, the highest percentage in the post-COVID period.
Interest
The Freddie Mac 30-year fixed mortgage rate ticked slightly higher last week, rising 3 basis points to 6.22 percent, as markets reacted in varying degrees to the Federal Reserve’s third consecutive rate cut.
As of 12/11/2025
Fact Pack co-publisher and Hightower wealth management advisor Mike PeQueen:
Treasury yields dipped following the Fed’s decision, with the 10-year yield moving closer to the low 4 percent range — a factor in keeping mortgage rates near their lowest levels in more than a year.
I’ll be watching for market and consumer reactions when the release of U.S. jobs numbers and delayed economic data cross paths with existing uncertainty.
Sticker Shock
Source: Analysis from Investopedia As of November 2025
Quality of Life
As ranked by Numbeo:
Graphic source: Visual Capitalist Data source: Numbeo As of June 2025
Map source: Numbeo As of June 2025
ADS
Average Daily Salaries across the planet (five-year cumulative changes as of June 2025 and since 2020, using adjusted data from Numbeo via Deutsche Bank):
As of June 2025
Note: Across the 69 cities, seven show a decline from 2020 to 2025. Cairo had the steepest fall (-40.1 percent), while Tokyo (-13.1%) also declined despite Japan’s continued status as a high-income economy.
One reason — and an important caveat to the data — is currency conversion: Values are converted to U.S. dollars, so a weakening local currency can make salaries appear smaller even if local pay rose. In the 5 years since 2020, the Egyptian Pound has fallen 66 percent against the U.S. dollar, and the Japanese yen has fallen 30%.
New York stands out in the U.S. with a -14.9 percent change (from $6,023 in 2020 to $5,128 in 2025), the largest decline among cities included in the graphic.
Come What May…
Plenty of babies are still being born:
Source: Visual Capitalist based on UN data As of 2024 (and 2025 projections)
On the Horizon
MarketWatch calendar:
