The Daily Rundown - January 7, 2026
🏠 Southern Nevada home prices dropped in December, and 2025 sales reached their lowest annual total in nearly two decades. That's according to a report released Tuesday from the trade group Las Vegas Realtors. The median price of an existing single-family home sold in Southern Nevada during December was $470,000.
That was down 1.1% from December of last year and down 3.9% from the all-time high set in November. The report shows more than 28,000 existing homes, condos and townhomes were sold in 2025. That's down from 2024, when there were more than 31,000 sales and is the lowest annual sales total since 2007. The year with the most sales was 2021, with more than 50,000 total properties sold.
🎸 Construction of the Hard Rock's guitar-shaped hotel is strumming along at a good rhythm and is on track to open in the fourth quarter of 2027. Hard Rock Las Vegas President Joe Lupo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that crews have now built 28 of the planned 42 stories. The giant guitar-shaped tower will be covered by two different shades of blue glass panels. And the building that was once the Mirage will also be coated in a shade of blue glass panels to match.
🤖 The Consumer Electronics Show debuted a humanoid robot on its first day. The life-sized robot, named Atlas, was created by Boston Dynamics, a subsidiary of Hyundai. The Associated Press reports that an engineer remotely piloted Atlas as it walked and waved to the crowd. The company's general manager for humanoid robots says in real life, Atlas will move around on its own. Hyundai also announced a partnership with Google's DeepMind to supply AI technology for Boston Dynamics robots.
🏢 New data from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation shows a loss of about 4,700 jobs in Las Vegas between September and November. While industries like trade and transportation saw some growth, the broader Nevada labor market struggled with sustained job losses in construction and finance.
The statewide unemployment rate ranks among the highest in the country. Between a decline in tourism to Las Vegas and uncertainty in the national economy, local business confidence is also at its lowest point since the Great Recession. Despite those challenges, state economists describe the situation as a mixed picture because wages continue to rise, particularly within the industries that are currently shedding the most workers.
📚 The Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial is asking the Las Vegas City Council to approve two grants aimed at preserving Las Vegas history. One grant will fund the production of a documentary film concerning the 1905 Las Vegas land auction. Another will fund the creation and installation of a new exhibit at the Atomic Museum.
Installation of the exhibit is expected to take five years and is planned to have curriculum tie-ins for local teachers when completed. The commission is requesting about $200,000 for each project using funds from the sale of "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" license plates. The City Council is expected to approve both requests.
🍀 In the new year, we can all use some serendipity, right? Since the word was coined in the 18th century, "serendipity" has been used to describe all kinds of scientific and technological breakthroughs, including penicillin, the microwave oven and Velcro. The whimsical term has also been the title of countless poems, songs and books about remarkable coincidences or eureka moments.
"Serendipity" — as the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it — is "the ability to find valuable or agreeable things not sought for" or "luck that takes the form of such finding." While the word has often been associated with good fortune or happy accidents, its origin suggests that serendipity goes beyond just happenstance. Read the full story with NPR's Juliana Kim here.
Part of these stories are taken from KNPR's daily newscast segment. To hear more daily updates like these, tune in to 88.9 KNPR FM.
