California existing home sales dropped 21% in June from a year earlier says the California Association of Realtors. They dropped 8.4% from May as high interest rates hurt sales.
In Kings County, the median home price was $327,000 compared to $381,000 in May and $295,000 a year ago. Sales were down 22%. Tulare County saw a decline in sales of just 3.7% and the median climbing to $378,000 from $370,000 in May.
Smithfield Foods
Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods is closing its 1,800-employee hog-processing plant in Vernon in early 2023, saying that high costs made the plant uneconomical.
Smithfield Foods announced it will end operations at its Farmer John pork processing plant in the Los Angeles area as the company retreats from California and the West to the corn belt.
Smithfield said it would supply its customers in California with Farmer John and other brands and products from its facilities in the Midwest. The meat producer, which is headquartered in Virginia and owned by Hong Kong-based WH Group, is facing pressure to keep its prices in check at a time of high inflation and regulatory scrutiny. That includes stricter rules on hog comfort in California being challenged by the industry in the Supreme Court.
The impending closure of the California processor puts hog raising at the Kings County Corcoran hog ranch in jeopardy, where it raises pigs for the Farmer John label - one of the best selling pork product lines. A call to the ranch elicited a no comment from staff. The former "Corc Pork" facility is located at 10990 Angiola Ave.
The Farmer John brand has a more than 90-year history selling pork products in California. But according to Smithfield, which has owned the brand since 2017, having the state as a manufacturing base has come at a substantial cost.
Gasoline demand
The federal Energy Information Administration says gasoline demand has been falling over the past month. A year ago the U.S. used 9.5 million barrels a day, while as of the first week of July demand is down to 8.7 million barrels a day - about a 9% decline. The EIA says there are now 25.8 days of supply on hand compared to 24.9 days a year ago.
Yokut Hall bingo
Bingo players celebrated recently when Tachi Palace officials in Lemoore did a ribbon-cutting for the grand opening of Yokut Hall southwest of the main casino. Bingo is returning Tuesday through Saturday after it was shuttered in March 2020 due to the pandemic.
“As a casino resort with a long-standing bingo tradition, we are excited to bring back bingo in our brand new 30,000 square-foot Yokut Hall, in addition to using the space for concerts and other special events,” said Michael Olujic, general manager of Tachi Palace Casino Resort. “Yokut Hall is another phase of the strong growth and development happening at Tachi Palace, and we look forward to announcing more updates and renovations as the year continues.”
