A short letter, once a month, with the numbers I am actually watching and the plans actually worth making. No filler, I promise. If it is here, it is because I would tell you about it over coffee. Prefer it on paper? Download the print edition.
The number: 6.69%
That is the average 30-year fixed mortgage as of August 6, per Freddie Mac's weekly survey, up a hair from 6.66 the week before. A year ago it was 6.63, so for all the headlines, rates have drifted, not moved. My rule of thumb for making that real: on an $800,000 loan, every quarter point is about $130 a month. If a rate dip appears this fall, as several forecasters expect, that is the size of the gift. Plan around your life, not the forecast.
The market: Pasadena and Altadena
In the most recent month reported, 248 homes changed hands in Pasadena, and the median sale price through the spring held near $1.2 million, essentially flat against last year. Underneath the calm number, the market has split: well-prepared homes still draw multiple offers and sell near or above list, while tired or overpriced listings sit longer than they did at the peak. This is a market that rewards preparation, not haste. If a fall sale is on your mind, the winners of September are prepared in August, which is precisely what The Edit, my pre-sale plan, is for.
Altadena continues its careful rebuild, and I watch it with a full heart. Sales are fewer and values have reset while the community rebuilds, with recent medians running near $1.1 million and much of the activity in lots and new construction. If you are considering buying or rebuilding there, come talk to me first. It is a market that deserves local knowledge and patience, and it is going to come back beautiful.
The calendar: what August is actually for
August 2026 · the marked days, at right
Sat · Aug 15
Levitt VIBE: The Lao Tizer Band
Free under the trees at Memorial Park, 6 to 10 pm. Blanket, picnic dinner, done.
Sat · Aug 22
Just Like Heaven at Brookside
The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, Feist, Chromeo, The Rapture, TV Girl. One day at the Rose Bowl; if you came of age in the 2000s, this is your prom.
Sat · Aug 29
Levitt VIBE: the season's last August night
The free series runs Saturdays through September 12. Chris Pierce plays the 22nd.
The rhythm of the week, with little ones: Kidspace before the heat, the turtle pond at Caltech on the way home, the Saturday farmers market at Victory Park, and Thursday evenings at the South Pasadena market by the Metro. More ideas in my kids' summer guide.
Ahead, worth penciling in now: the Norton Simon opens its big fall exhibition, The Art of Kandy: Sri Lanka's Last Kingdom, on Thursday, September 4, and the Rose Bowl Flea Market returns Sunday, September 13, the second Sunday as always.
Two houses I can't stop thinking about
2370 Catherine Road, Altadena · 1928 · 3 bed, 2 bath · $599,000. A 1928 home on one of Altadena's loveliest streets, offered at a number that asks for vision rather than a bidding war. This is the rebuild moment the whole town is living through, and Catherine Road is exactly where I would want to be holding keys when the comeback finishes. Walk it with me before someone braver does.
1265 El Mirador Drive, Pasadena · 1950 · 3 bed, 2 bath. Just over 2,000 square feet of 1950 ranch in the El Mirador pocket northwest of the Rose Bowl, where the streets curve, the lots breathe, and midcentury light does the decorating. Single-story living with real character is the rarest request I get, and this is the street I mean when I say it still exists.
A note before September
If this summer has you wondering what your home is worth, or which neighborhood should hold your next chapter, that is a conversation I love. Call or text me at (909) 730-6264, start with an estimate on my home value page, or wander the interactive neighborhood map until something feels like yours. I read every message myself, and I will see you at the flea market on the thirteenth.
Thalia
