SAN DIEGO -- The median price of an existing home in the San Diego region last month was $616,870, 6.5 percent higher than the same period a year ago, according to a Realtors group.

Sales in the region last month were up 5.4 percent when compared to July, and 3.1 percent higher than in August 2004, when the median home price was $579,040, the Los Angeles-based California Association of Realtors reported.

In neighboring Orange County, the median home price was $716,300 last month, up 10.3 percent from August 2004, while sales increased 42.4 percent compared to the same period a year ago, according to CAR.

The median price of an existing home in Los Angeles in August was $564,340, up nearly 24 percent from a year ago, while sales in the region were up 11.7 percent year-over-year, CAR reported.

Statewide, the median price of an existing home in California in August was a record $568,890 -- a 20.1 percent increase over the revised $473,520 median for August 2004, and sales increased 7 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to CAR.

"This was the second strongest August sales figure on record dating back to 1979, surpassed only by August 2003," said CAR President Jim Hamilton.

"Since more buyers are relying on adjustable-rate mortgages to finance the purchase of their homes, buyers may be moving more quickly to make the home purchase decision in anticipation of future rate increases," he said. "This is adding more pressure to the price of a home."

In the San Francisco Bay Area, sales continued to fall below last year's pace, although they remained at elevated levels that approximate the market in 2003, CAR officials said.