A mid-year gut check on the market (and Madi’s first fishing trip)
by Ben Florsheim | June 2026
Hi friends. June took us out of the Nevada heat and up to Montana, where Madison went on her very first fishing trip. She is a little young to hold a rod, so no fish on her line yet. But watching her take in all that big sky, cold water, and open country was something else. The fishing itself was phenomenal too, and I came home with a full memory card and an even fuller heart.
Erica and I keep saying we want to raise a kid who loves being outside, and this trip felt like a good start. Madi slept better next to a river than she does most nights at home, so we may have found our secret weapon. If any of you have baby-friendly camping or fishing spots closer to Reno, send them my way.
Now that we are back and officially halfway through the year, it feels like a good time to step back and look at the bigger picture. A lot of what is driving real estate right now is happening at the national level, so this month I want to zoom out before we bring it home to Reno.
The Market: Zooming Out at the Halfway Mark
Let me say this up front. Most of the scary housing headlines you are seeing right now are about the national picture, not our backyard. It is still smart to keep an eye on the macro stuff, because it eventually trickles down to us, but national and local are not the same market. So here is the big picture, kept simple.
Mortgage rates are holding steady in the mid-6% range, right around 6.5% for a 30-year fixed. The Federal Reserve met in mid-June and left its key rate unchanged, and it signaled it is in no rush to cut because inflation has been ticking back up. In plain terms, do not count on rates dropping much this year. If you have been waiting for a big drop before you buy, that day may not come as soon as everyone hoped.
On the national front, home prices are actually cooling for the first time in a while. The median asking price on U.S. homes fell about 2.4% compared to a year ago, which is the biggest yearly drop since at least 2017. Prices dropped in 35 of the 50 largest metros. Reno is not one of those metros getting hit, and I will explain why in a second.
You are also seeing a lot of sellers cut their asking price across the country. In Nevada, roughly 39% of active listings have had at least one price cut. Some states are even higher, like Arizona at 50% and Florida near 47%. That is not a crash. It is the market letting air out of prices that got a little ahead of themselves.
The other thing worth watching is how much it now costs to simply own a home. The average annual cost of owning has jumped about 39% since 2019, to a record $28,600 a year. A big chunk of that is interest, but insurance, property taxes, and repairs have all climbed too. Insurance alone is up 72% and emergency repairs are up a wild 175%. So even when a price looks flat, owning costs more than it used to. I bring this up so buyers budget for the whole picture, not just the mortgage payment.
One last big-picture note, and I will keep it out of politics. The economy right now is what folks are calling K-shaped, meaning higher earners are doing most of the spending while everyone else feels squeezed. The top 20% of earners now account for roughly 58% of all consumer spending, the most on record. For housing, that helps explain why the higher end of the market keeps moving while entry-level buyers feel the pinch of rates and prices. It is a good reminder that averages hide a lot of different stories.
So What Does All of This Mean for Reno and Sparks?
Here is the good news. Our market is holding up better than the national headlines. The median home in Reno sold for about $615,000 in June, up roughly 6.8% from a year ago. So while national prices dipped, Reno prices still ticked up. Sparks came in around $575,000, also higher than last summer. We are simply not seeing the price slides that Austin, Memphis, or Los Angeles are dealing with.
That said, the market has clearly calmed down and shifted in the buyer’s favor. Homes are taking about 75 days to sell in Reno and 70 in Sparks, which is a lot slower than the frenzy years. There were about 1,360 homes for sale in Reno in June, giving buyers real choices, and we are sitting at roughly four months of inventory. That is about as balanced as our market gets, tilting just slightly toward sellers.
My honest read? This is one of the friendliest markets buyers have had in years, and a lot of people do not realize it yet. Sellers are more willing to negotiate, cover costs, and work with you. Here is a real example from June. I got an investor client into a condo for $7,000 under asking, and got the seller to cover the current special assessment on top of that. Two or three years ago, that deal does not happen. There are good buys out there right now if you know where to look.
And sellers, do not read all this and panic. Reno values are still up year over year, and well-priced homes in good shape are still selling. The difference is that buyers are paying attention to price and condition again. Price it right out of the gate, make it show well, and it will move. Come in overpriced hoping for a bidding war, and you will be one of those listings taking a price cut in a couple months.
Around Reno
Artown is back for all of July, with more than 500 mostly free events spread across the month. It is one of my favorite things about living here. You can catch live music, art, and performances almost every single night, and a lot of it will not cost you a dime. It is a great, low-key way to get the family out of the house on a summer evening.
For the pop-culture crowd, Silver Age Comic Con lands at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center on July 11 and 12. It is a family-friendly celebration of comics, anime, movies, and TV, and it is always a good time whether you are a die-hard fan or just tagging along with the kids.
Let’s Talk
That is the mid-year check-in. If any of this got you thinking about buying, selling, or just wondering what your home is worth these days, I would love to hear from you. Hit reply to this email, give me a call, or let’s grab a coffee. Whether you are ready to make a move this year or just want to talk through your options, my door is always open.
Ben Florsheim
The Mohan Group | Northern Nevada
ben@sellinreno.com
Sources
Local market data: Northern Nevada Regional MLS, single-family residential, June 2026.
National price trends: Realtor.com median listing price data (via The Kobeissi Letter / WolfStreet).
Price cuts by state: Parcl Labs, June 2026.
Homeownership costs: Wall Street Journal, Intercontinental Exchange, Angi, U.S. Labor Department.
Consumer spending: Federal Reserve, Moody’s Analytics.
Mortgage rates: Freddie Mac and Bankrate, early July 2026.
Fed decision: Federal Reserve FOMC statement, June 17, 2026.
Reno events: Visit Reno Tahoe, ask-reno.com, Artown, Silver Age Comic Con.