LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- California's housing market continued to improve in August as home sales climbed to their highest level in more than a decade, a California Association of Realtors (CAR) monthly report said Thursday, adding the growth was driven by the lowest interest rates ever.

According to the report released by the Los Angeles-based state trade organization, sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 465,400 units in August, climbing above the 400,000 level for the second straight month since the COVID-19 pandemic punched the market earlier this year.

August sales rose 6.3 percent from 437,890 in July and were up 14.6 percent from a year ago, when 406,100 homes were sold on an annualized basis, the report said, adding the latest figure marked the first time since the summer of 2016 that sales increased from the previous month three months in a row.

Meanwhile, the statewide median price hit another new high after setting records in June and July, the report indicated, showing California's median home price broke the 700,000 U.S. dollar mark for the first time, reaching 706,900 dollars in August, a 6.1 percent jump from July's 666,320 dollars and 14.5 percent from 617,410 dollars in August 2019.

"The yearly price increase was the highest recorded since March 2014 and larger than the six-month average of 4.3 percent observed between February 2020 to July 2020," the report said.

"Low rates and tight housing inventory are contributing factors to the statewide median price setting a new record high three months in a row from June to August," said CAR Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young in the report. "A change in the mix of sales is another variable that keeps pushing median prices higher, as sales growth of higher-priced properties continued to outpace their more affordable counterparts."