Several Los Angeles museums, that normally charge an admission, are waiving their entry fees for the month of July. Below is a list of all those museums, which includes the California Science Center and The Getty!
Keep in mind, there are more than a dozen museums in and around Los Angeles that are free ALL the time, but this list is only for those that typically charge but are waiving their admission fees (not including parking).
JULY 2: Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you can)
JULY 2: Museum of Latin American Art
JULY 6: Japanese American National Museum
JULY 6: Skirball Cultural Center
JULY 6: Huntington Library (reserve passes for the free day in advance)
JULY 6: MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen
JULY 6: Long Beach Museum of Art
JULY 7: Long Beach Museum of Art
JULY 7: Norton Simon Museum
JULY 7: Pasadena Museum of California Art
JULY 9: Museum of Latin American Art
JULY 9: Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you can)
JULY 11: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
JULY 11: Autry Museum of the American West
JULY 13: Skirball Cultural Center
JULY 13: Long Beach Museum of Art
JULY 13: Japanese American National Museum
JULY 13: MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen
JULY 14: Long Beach Museum of Art
JULY 16: Museum of Latin American Art
JULY 16: Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you can)
JULY 18: Descanso Gardens
JULY 18: Los Angeles County Arboretum
JULY 18: South Coast Botanic Garden
JULY 20: Skirball Cultural Center
JULY 20: Long Beach Museum of Art
JULY 20: Pasadena Museum of California Art
JULY 20: Japanese American National Museum
JULY 20: MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen
JULY 21: Long Beach Museum of Art
JULY 23: Museum of Latin American Art
JULY 23: Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you can)
JULY 27: MOCA Grand & MOCA Geffen
JULY 27: Skirball Cultural Center
JULY 27: Long Beach Museum of Art
JULY 28: Long Beach Museum of Art
JULY 28: Museum of Latin American Art
JULY 30: Museum of Latin American Art
JULY 30: Craft and Folk Art Museum (pay what you can)
Make sure to verify the status of free days before you visit. Check the museum websites to verify hours of free admission, parking costs, and any other details. Also, free admission days may not include ticketed exhibitions.

Below is a list of plenty of things you can do in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Whether you want to see the traditional fireworks, attend a rooftop party, or go to an outdoor movie, there’s something for everybody.
Have a Happy Independence Day!

1. CBS Studio Center’s 4th of July Fireworks & VIP Celebration.
2. Redondo Beach 4th of July Fireworks at Seaside Lagoon.
3. Topanga Canyon’s Theatricum Botanicum’s 3rd Annual Independence Day Old Fashioned Barn Dance and Barbecue.
4. 67th Annual John Olguin Southbay July 4th Spectacular, a free event in San Pedro.
5. L.A. Freedom Festival in Century City.
6. 91st Annual Americafest at The Rose Bowl.
7. Rooftop party at the Ace Hotel in Downtown L.A., California Sol 4th of July.
8. West Valley’s July 4th Fireworks Extravaganza in Woodland Hills.
9. Fireworks and Jurassic Park at Hollywood Forever, hosted by Cinespia.
10. Grand Park’s 4th of July Block Party.
11. Parade and skydivers at the Pacific Palisades 4th of July Parade & Fireworks Show.
12. Queen Mary’s Fourth of July party.  Discount tickets here.
13. July 4th at the Marina
14. The Hollywood Bowl fireworks with a performance from Pentatonix.
15. Go to a museum! The Getty Center, LACMA, and The Broad will be open. Times vary.
16. Culver City Fourth of July Fireworks Show.

Not sure what to do for this 4th of July weekend? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
June 30 – July 2 includes an annual car show, the Anime Expo, a SoCal Corgi Beach Day, and plenty more!
Take a look at the list below and go out and do something fun this weekend!
Friday June 30th, 2017

1. Free Shakespeare at the Old Zoo in Griffith Park.
2. Dance DTLA at Grand Park.
3. Shakespeare By The Sea at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.
4. Outdoor Movies at the Skirball.
5. The Last Book Review at The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles.
6. Modo Yoga hosting Karma Classes every Friday at their Echo Park and La Brea locations.
7. Free concert series at The Levitt Pavilion in McArthur Park.
8. 8. Tom Gun LIVE: A Maverick’s Homage.
9. 9th Annual Cars & Stripes Forever, a free pre-Independence Day celebration.
10. Constitution Happy Hour at AMMO at The Hammer.
11. The Barnsdall Art Park’s annual Wine Tasting Nights.
12. The Groundlings: The Completely Different Late Show.
13. Greenbar Distillery cocktail classes in Downtown LA.
14. Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris at The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.
15. 626 Night Market.
16. Metro Art Presents a showcase at the historic Union Station.
17. Cinema Under The Stars.

Saturday July 1st, 2017

1. SoCal Corgi Beach Day at Long Beach’s Alamitos Beach.
2. 19. Eat|See|Hear screening Top Gun at The Autry Museum.
3. Old Pasadena Summer Cinema.
4. KCRW’s Summer Nights.
5. Red, White and BBQ.
6. Beer Fest for Beer Geeks’ The Rarest Experience.
7. Street Food Cinema featuring The Sandlot at Brand Library Park Glendale. and Napoleon Dynamite at Will Rogers State Historic Park Pacific Palisades on Saturday.
8. Shakespeare By The Sea at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro.
9. Hauser & Wirth hosting two opening shows on Saturday. One by American artist Paul McCarthy’s and the other by Takesada Matsutani.
10. 28th Annual Mariachi USA Festival at the Hollywood Bowl.
11. Pirate Invasion of Long Beach.
12. The Anime Expo.
13. ShipKicker.
14. Free concert series at The Levitt Pavilion in McArthur Park.
15. Summer of Music at Redondo Pier.
16. International Printing Museum’s annual Independence Day Celebration.
17. The Lincoln’s Dog Day Afternoon party at the Venice watering hole.

Sunday July 2nd, 2017

1. Street Food Cinema at LA State Historic Park Los Angeles.
2. Culver City Centennial Westside Food & Wine Festival.
3. Angel City Brewery’s Merica Fest.
4. Clifton’s full scale U.S.O. star studded bash.
5. Free concert series at The Levitt Pavilion in McArthur Park.
6. Boot Camp Boxing and Yoga at Iron Triangle Brewery in DTLA.
7. 3rd Annual Venice Block Party.
8. The Great Rock and Roll Flea Market.

Stocks stable again this week – Hovering just above and below their all time highs, stocks ended the week pretty much unchanged for the third straight week. Energy stocks dropped as the price of oil plummeted to just under $43 per barrel, an 18-month low. Financial stocks rose after the Federal Reserve announced that all banks passed their annual stress test. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week at 21,394.76, up slightly from 21,384.28 last week. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,438.30, just above its close last week of 2,433.15. The NASDAQ closed the week at 6,265.25, up from last week’s close of 6,151.76. 
Bond yields – The 10-year Treasury bond closed the week at 2.15%, almost unchanged from 2.16% last week. The 30-year treasury yield ended the week at 2.71%, down from 2.78% last week. Mortgage rates follow treasury bond yields so we watch bond yields carefully.
Mortgage Rates remain at lowest levels of the year – The June 22, 2017 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 3.90%, almost unchanged from 3.91% last week. The 15-year fixed was 3.17%, almost unchanged from 3.18% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.14%, also unchanged from 3.15% last week. 
California existing home sales numbers and prices accelerate in May – After a disappointing April, existing home sales bounced back in May. On a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, single family existing home sales totaled 430,460 in May. That was a 5.4% increase from April and a 2.6% increase from last May. The statewide median price paid for a home was $550,200, up 2.3% from April and up 5.8% from May 2016. 
At a regional level, the Los Angeles metro region had a 6.9% increase in sales. Existing home sales include all detached and attached homes, which include single family, town-homes, condominiums, and co-ops. 
C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index fell from 3.3 months in April to 2.9 months in May. The index measures the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market. The index stood at 3.4 months in May 2016.
With home inventory at record low levels, prices will continue to rise. When you have more buyers than sellers that is what happens. Earlier in the year I predicted a 10% rise in the median price. I believe we are on track for that. The number of sales at 430,000, which would be much higher if more sellers listed, is the highest level in many years. Many sellers worry that they will not find anything to buy after they sell. With 430,000 sales in California there are plenty of homes selling. Unfortunately, as buyers they just need to act fast and chose from fewer homes. We can’t have it both ways. If homes sat on the market and were difficult to sell there would be plenty of homes to chose from when their home sold. In this market where homes are selling there are fewer homes to chose from and they need to act fast. Every buyer wishes, or should wish, that they bought a home they passed on just months ago as those homes are much more expensive now. So many of our clients have been “priced out” of neighborhoods they were able to afford just months ago. Especially people that hoped to “move up” to a more expensive home. 
Author,
Syd Leibovitch

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Stocks mixed for the week – As expected, The Federal Reserve increased its Federal Funds and Discount Rate by another .25%. It’s 3rd increase in 6 months. The rate is still at a historically low level of just 1%. The raise shows that The Fed feels the economy is strong. At the same time, a key Fed inflation report showed that inflation was just 1.5%. That was well below the 2% target level set by the Fed. Another report showed retail sales were slowing. Oil also dropped this week. Despite the stagnation in inflation and wage growth, the Fed cited that being near full unemployment a rate increase was warranted. This caused interest rates paid on savings accounts to rise, the prime rate to rise, and short term adjustable rate mortgages to rise. The low inflation report, slowing retail sales, and falling oil prices caused long term mortgage rates and treasury yields to drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week at 21,384.28 l, up from 21,271.97 last week. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,433.15, just above its close last week of 2,431.77. The NASDAQ closed the week at 6,151.76, down from last week’s close of 6,207.93.
Bond yields drop as Fed raises overnight rates – Even though the Fed increased overnight rates for the third time since December, long term rates have dropped to the lowest level in 7 months. Since the Fed’s first increase in December 2015 the Fed’s overnight rates have gone from 0% to 1%, yet the 10-year treasury bond is .15% lower than it was before that first increase. That is because inflation is so tame. The 10-year Treasury bond closed the week at 2.16%, down from 2.21%, last week. The 30-year treasury yield ended the week at 2.78%, down from 2.86% last week. Mortgage rates follow treasury bond yields so we watch bond yields carefully.
Mortgage Rates down this week – The June 15, 2017 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 3.91%, almost unchanged from 3.89% last week. The 15-year fixed was 3.18%, almost unchanged from 3.16% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.15%, up slightly from 3.11% last week. Long term fixed rates dropped after The Federal Reserve raised overnight rates on Wednesday so next week’s rates should be a little lower.
California jobless rate lowest since 2000 – The Employment Development Department reported that the unemployment rate in California has dropped to 4.7% in May. Los Angeles County fared even better. The unemployment rate in the county fell to 4.4%.
The California Association of Realtors and National Association of Realtors have not released May sales data yet. Those will be out and included in my report next week.
Author,
Syd Leibovitch