News & Media
Attending any events in August?
Below are some fun events happening this month in and around Los Angeles. Take a look and purchase your tickets in advance before they are sold out!
This month includes an LA Taco Festival, a Solar Eclipse event, and an art festival!
Stock markets mixed this week – The Dow was up as corporate earnings of DOW companies are beating expectations. The Nasdaq and S&P were unchanged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week at 21,830.21, up from 21,580.07 last week. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,472.10, unchanged from its close last week of 2,472.55. The NASDAQ closed the week at 6,374.78, almost unchanged from last week’s close of 6,387.75.
Bond yields rise this week– The 10-year Treasury bond closed the week at 2.30%, up from 2.24% last week. The 30-year treasury yield ended the week at 2.89%, up from 2.81% last week. Mortgage rates follow treasury bond yields so we watch bond yields carefully.
Mortgage Rates lower this week– The July 27, 2017 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 3.92%, down from 3.96% last week. The 15-year fixed was 3.20%, down from 3.23% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.18%, down from 3.21% last week.
U.S. existing home sales drop in June, but still higher than 2016 levels – Prices continue to rise – The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, town-homes, condominiums, and co-ops, decreased 1.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.52 million in June from 5.62 million in May. Despite last month’s decline, June’s sales pace is 0.7% above a year ago, but is the second lowest of 2017 (February, 5.47 million). We are still on pace for either the most sales ever in the U.S. The median price for an existing-home in June was up 6.5% from June 2016. June marked the 64th straight month of year-over-year price gains. Total housing inventory at the end of June declined 7.1% from last June’s level. The number of homes for sale has fallen year-over-year for 25 consecutive months. Unsold inventory is at a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.6 months a year ago.
New home sales rise in June – The Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes rose 0.8% in June from May’s sales levels. Year over year new home sales are a staggering 9.1% higher than the number of new home sales last June. New home sales in the west increased 12.5% to the highest number of new home sales since July 2007.
Have a great weekend!
Syd
Below is a handy list of museums offering free admission during the month of August!
The list only includes museums that generally charge an entrance fee, such as The Getty, California Science Center, and many more.
Enjoy this “cheat-sheet” and remember, there are dozens of other museums around Los Angeles that are free 365 days of the year!
[AUGUST 1] Kidspace Museum (4 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 3] Skirball Cultural Center
[AUGUST 3] Huntington Library (must reserve passes in advance for the free day)
[AUGUST 3] Japanese American National Museum ( 5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 3] MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 3] Long Beach Museum of Art (3 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 4] Long Beach Museum of Art
[AUGUST 4] Norton Simon Museum (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 4] Pasadena Museum of California Art (noon to 5 p.m.)
[AUGUST 6] Museum of Latin American Art
[AUGUST 6 ] Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you are able to)
[AUGUST 8] Los Angeles County Museum of Art
[AUGUST 8] Autry Museum of the American West
[AUGUST 10] Skirball Cultural Center
[AUGUST 10] Long Beach Museum of Art (3 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 10] Japanese American National Museum (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 10] MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 11] Long Beach Museum of Art
[AUGUST 13] Museum of Latin American Art
[AUGUST 13] ] Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you are able to)
[AUGUST 15] Los Angeles County Arboretum
[AUGUST 15] South Coast Botanic Garden
[AUGUST 15] Descanso Gardens
[AUGUST 17] MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 17] Skirball Cultural Center
[AUGUST 17] Long Beach Museum of Art (3 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 17] Pasadena Museum of California Art (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 17] Japanese American National Museum
[AUGUST 18] Long Beach Museum of Art
[AUGUST 20] Museum of Latin American Art
[AUGUST 20] ] Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you are able to)
[AUGUST 24] Japanese American National Museum (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 24] MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 24] Skirball Cultural Center
[AUGUST 24] Long Beach Museum of Art (3 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 25] Long Beach Museum of Art
[AUGUST 27] Museum of Latin American Art (5 – 9 p.m.)
[AUGUST 27] Museum of Latin American Art
[AUGUST 27] Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you are able to)
[AUGUST 31] Skirball Cultural Center
[AUGUST 31] Long Beach Museum of Art (3 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 31] Japanese American National Museum (5 – 8 p.m.)
[AUGUST 31] MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen (5 – 8 p.m.)
Reminder, verify the status of free days before you visit the museum, and get more details on parking costs and ticketed exhibitions.
The Hollywood Hills home of late actress Doris Roberts has sold for $2,000,000. Roger Perry of Rodeo Realty Beverly Hills had the listing.
Roland Quino of Rodeo Realty Beverly Hills represented the buyer.
The home of the beloved mom on “Everybody Loves Raymond” has been featured on TMZ, Curbed, Variety, and many other online sites. Recently, the sale made news on NBC and the Los Angeles Times.
The 1927 Spanish Colonial Revival sits on a promontory on a 11,600 sq. ft. double lot and has views of the city and coastline.
The 3,700 sq. ft. house has three bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a great room, a sun room, a formal dining room, a “speakeasy room,” and a family room with wet bar.
Outdoors, there’s a heated pool with spa, a cabana bar, and an outdoor kitchen.
According to Curbed Los Angeles, the Spanish had previously been home to ‘Casablanca’ producer Hal Wallis—and is rumored to have housed James Dean.
PAST ARTICLES:
To read the TMZ article on this property, click HERE.
Curbed Los Angeles, read HERE.
Variety, click HERE.
FOX News, HERE.
1. Long Beach Crawfish Festival at the Rainbow Lagoon Park.
2. Lucky Rice’s Los Angeles Feast.
3. Rooftop Cinema Club at The Montalban in Hollywood.
4. Rick and Morty’s RickMobile coming in town. Will be at A Shop Called Quest on Friday and Earth-2 Comics in Northrdige on Saturday.
5. Tom Gun LIVE: A Maverick’s Homage.
6. Summer Nights in the Garden at the Natural History Museum.
7. Dance DTLA at Grand Park.
8. Free summer movie screenings at Pershing Square.
9. The Last Book Review at The Last Bookstore in DTLA.
10. Shakespeare By The Sea at Wilson Park in Torrance.
11. Public sample sale at theCalifornia Market Center in DTLA.
12. Summer Night concerts & movies at Vincent Lugo Park in the City of San Gabriel.
13. Summer Movie Fest at Cal State Northridge’s Oviatt Library Lawn.
14. Cocktail classes at Greenbar Distillery in DTLA.
15. Old Pasadena Summer Cinema at Distant Lands and at One Colorado.
16. Grand Performances in DTLA.
17. Summer Supper + Show Series on the rooftop of the Ritz-Carlton in DTLA.
Saturday July 29th, 2017
18. Summer Happenings at The Broad.
19. Politicon 2017 at the Pasadena Convention Center.
20. Street Food Cinema at Central Park Glendale and at Poinsettia Rec Park West Hollywood.
21. Free public star party hosted by the Griffith Observatory.
22. Off the 405 at the Getty Center.
23. The Sinister Circus hosted by The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor.
24. The Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
25. Midsummer Scream Halloween Festival at Long Beach Convention Center.
26. KCRW’s Summer Nights.
27. Tribute to Amy Winehouse taking place at the Rockwell Table & Stage.
28. Movies on the Green at the Lou Bredlow Pavilion in Warner Center Park in Woodland Hills.
29. Love Long Beach 2017 at Shoreline Aquatic Park.
30. California Watermelon Festival at the Hansen Dam Soccer Fields in Lake View Terrace.
31. All-day dance event at Grand Park.
32. Screening of Downtown 81 hosted by Delicious Pizza.
33. Free summer concerts at Pershing Square.
34. Eat|See|Hear at The Autry Museum.
36. Shakespeare By The Sea at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.
37. Grand Performances in DTLA.
38. Movie Picnic Night at Alhambra Park.
39. The Electric Dusk Drive-In at the LACCD Van De Kamp college campus.
40. The Johnny Ramone Tribute at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
41. Angeleno magazine’s Live & Dine LA.
42. Free Shakespeare at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park.
43. Rooftop Cinema Club at LEVEL in DTLA.
44. Shakespeare By The Sea at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.
Walking is easy to do and one of the best things you can do for your health. Getting your steps in can help you lose weight, lower your blood pressure, and even reduce your risk of several chronic diseases.
It’s an excellent form of exercise and a great way to stay active! With that being said, Los Angeles has many options for those who want to get out and get their walk on.
Here are a few suggestions:
Many may not know this, but The Hollywood Bowl is a public park during the day. Visitors can explore, learn more about the Bowl and take a beautiful walk along the way. -> Learn more.
You can get about 7,000 steps out of the Lake Hollywood Trail. The 3.3 mile loop takes you around the Hollywood Reservoir. -> Check out the trail here.
One loop around the Echo Park Lake will give you around 2,000 steps. The loop is under a mile and offers steppers the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful lotus plants and blossoms during the spring months. -> Walk the lake.
Echo Park Lake. Photo by Brian Champlin
One loop around the Exposition Park Rose Garden and you’re looking at around 5,000 steps. Here you can enjoy more than 200,000 rose bushes along your walk. Go here.
Encino Golf loop is almost 5 miles long and takes you round the Valley golf course. You can get about 10,000 steps on this loop. -> Walk the Encino Golf loop.
Venice Beach is a well-known beach-walking area in L.A. Beginning and ending at Ocean Front Walk, you will get about 4,000 steps on the trail. -> Walk here.
Venice Beach Boardwalk. Credit: Brian Champlin
Veterans Parkway, referred to by locals as the “greenbelt,” runs through Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach. You can get about 15,000 steps in if you walk back and forth from both communities–that’s about 7 miles. Go here.
The Music Box Steps are located in Silver Lake and will not disappoint your step tracker! If you plan on doing all the staircases, you will get about 5,500 steps in–it’s a total of 2.5 miles and 705 stairs. -> Details.
The museum has many natural displays. Visitors can count their steps while also enjoying the rose garden, the Japanese garden and several other collections at the Descanso Gardens. -> Walk the garden here.
You can get approximately 2,000 steps in just by walking through The new Burbank Ikea. Make sure to take some comfortable shoes and enjoy the furniture displays and the food. -> Walk and shop at Ikea Burbank.
The Rose Bowl is a popular spot to exercise. The loop is about a 90 minute walk and 6,500 steps. Visitors are here daily to get their exercise in. -> Walk the Rose Bowl.
Rose Bowl. Photo credit: Brian Champlin
Four times around this 9-lane track equals one mile, which is about 2,000 steps. The Drake Stadium is a great place to get your collegiate spirit on and to work out. -> Get on track.
You can get more than 2,400 steps in just by hiking the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Whether you take the 282 stairs or the trail, you’ll get a workout and also enjoy a great view. -> Climb the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook.
Mandeville Canyon is a 7.2 mile hike. You can get almost 16,000 steps at this trail. Located within the Santa Monica Mountains, the trail gives you an amazing view of Los Angeles once you reach its highest point of elevation. -> Take the hike.
Downtown Los Angeles’ newest food hall is expected to open soon!
Corporation Food Hall will be located down the street from the Spring Street Arcade and Grand Central Market. The new food hall announced its lineup last week.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWx1XHpF-pZ/
Coming to the food hall is Tacos Tu Madre, Poke 2 Go, Pig Pen Delicacy, On the Thirty, Bardonna, Soom Soom, Buddha Belly, and Funculo.
The hall has nine stalls in total with communal seating down the middle. No word on when Corporation Food Hall will open, but it should be soon!
The address to Corporation Food Hall is 724 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles.
Stocks almost unchanged this week – In a calm week, the S&P and Nasdaq remained at record highs while the Dow was slightly lower than the record highs of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week at 21,580.07, down from 21,637.74 last week. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,472.55, up from its close last week of 2,459.27. The NASDAQ closed the week at 6,387.75, up from last week’s close of 6,312.47.
Bond yields drop this week – The 10-year Treasury bond closed the week at 2.24%, down from 2.33% last week. The 30-year treasury yield ended the week at 2.81%, down from 2.91% last week. Mortgage rates follow treasury bond yields so we watch bond yields carefully.
Mortgage rates lower this week week – The July 20, 2017 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 3.96%, down from 4.03% last week. The 15-year fixed was 3.23%, down from 3.29% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.21%, down from 3.27% last week.
L.A. County unemployment rate unchanged in June – The unemployment rate remained at a record low of 4.4% in June. A year ago, the unemployment rate stood at 5.2%.
California existing home sales and prices up in June – The California Association of Realtors announced that sales of existing, single-family detached homes totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 443,150 units in June. The statewide sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2017 if sales maintained the June pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales. The June figure was up 3.3% from the revised 428,890 level in May and up 2.4% compared with home sales in June 2016 of a revised 432,880. Year-to-date sales are running 3.2% ahead of last year’s pace.
The statewide median price was up 0.9% from a revised $550,080 in May to reach $555,150 in June, and was 7.0% higher than the revised $518,830 recorded in June 2016. The median sales price is the point at which half of homes sold for more and half sold for less.
Foreign home buyers set U.S. record – The National Association of Realtors announced that foreigners purchased 284,455 residential properties in the 12 months ending March 31, 2017. That’s an increase of about 34% from the same period one year ago. The dollar volume surged nearly 50% to $153 billion. That was a new record. Chinese nationals purchased $31.7 billion worth of residential properties, up from $27.3 billion one year earlier. The group with the largest increase was Canadians, who purchased $19 billion worth of residential properties, up from $8.9 billion in the 12 months ending March 31, 2016. It was a dramatic jump considering that the strong U.S. dollar makes properties more expensive. Foreign buyers spent $35 billion on California residential properties. That was up from $27 billion one year earlier. Asian buyers represented 71% of foreign buyers in California, up from 51% a year earlier.
The desert estate originally built for American film actress Marion Davies has sold for $2,175,000. Rodeo Realty’s Neal Leviton was one of the listing agents to the property, which headlined in the Los Angeles Times and Curbed when it first went on the market.
The 9 bedroom, 11 bathroom estate has nearly 14,000 sq. ft. of living space and sits on 2.77 acres. Outdoors, the property includes a pond with a waterfall, a tennis court and a pool/spa. The grounds are immaculate and the property is maintained by two full-time employees.
In 1956, Davies, who was William Randolph Heart’s mistress and a legendary film star of the silver screen era in the 1930s, purchased a piece of land from the founder of Hyatt Hotels, Hyatt Robert von Dehn. She built a home on the property that is known as 1 Von Dehn Road in Rancho Mirage, CA.
Hearst was a publishing magnet, best known for building the nation’s largest newspaper chain and the magnificent and over the top Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA. Hearst and Davies were publicly a couple for many years, as Hearst’s wife would not grant him a divorce. They had a child together, Patricia Van Cleeve Lake, also an actress. Both kept Lake’s true identity a secret for many years.
Upon Davies death in 1961 the property transferred to the man she married after Hearst passed away in 1951, Horace Brown (another well-known actor).
Brown eventually sold the property in 1972 to the family that owned Trader Vic’s, a well-known restaurant chain. In 1996, the property was sold to a private family. The property was upgraded throughout the years to its present state today. The original structure still remains along with the upgraded portions of the home.
Below
are some of LA’s best breakfast destinations to enjoy over the weekend.Wexler’s Deli – 317 South Broadway at Grand Central Market in DTLA.
616 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica.
Paper or Plastik – 5772 West Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles.
Aroma Coffee & Tea – 4360 Tujunga Ave. in Studio City.
Destroyer – 3583 Hayden Avenue in Culver City.
Square One Dining – 4854 Fountain Ave. in Los Angeles.
Kitchen Mouse – 5904 North Figueroa St. in Los Angeles.
NBC Seafood – 404 South Atlantic Blvd. in Monterey Park.
Photo via Manhattan Beach Post/Facebook
Manhattan Beach Post – 1142 Manhattan Ave. in Manhattan Beach.
