Bay Area single-family home prices inched up to another monthly record in July as falling mortgage rates kept buyers scurrying for houses, though Santa Clara County saw a drop from last month's all-time high.

The median price of resale single-family houses in the nine-county area hit a record $546,000 last month, up from $545,000 in June and a 17.2 percent increase over July 2003's $466,000, according to real estate data firm DataQuick Information Systems.

In Santa Clara County, the median price for resale single-family homes sagged in July to $590,000 from $599,000 in June, which was a fifth consecutive record. But last month's median was still the second-highest recorded, and 15.9 percent more than July 2003, when it was $509,000.

``It's a very strong month,'' DataQuick analyst John Karevoll said. ``It's not record-breaking like it was in June, but it's just a shade shy of that.''

Bay Area condominium sales also dipped to a median $397,000 in July from $401,000 in June but were still the second-highest on record, up 16.1 percent from $342,000 in July 2003. The combined median for homes and condos was $514,000, down 0.4 percent from a June record of $516,000.

Janet Houde, president of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, credited falling interest rates with keeping home sales strong during the typical slowdown in the second half of the year.

``It's still holding pretty steady, and interest rates have a lot to do with that,'' Houde said. ``With interest rates holding at a low level and even dropping a little, we may not see much of a pullback in the summer months. It's a great time to buy.''

The weekly national average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped below 6 percent in July for the first time since April, according to the mortgage financing company Freddie Mac. It was at 5.85 percent this week. This year's lowest weekly average rate 5.38 percent in March.

The median single-family home price rose 18.4 percent from last year to $709,000 in San Mateo County and 18.6 percent to $623,000 in Santa Cruz County.

The median price means half the homes sold for more and half for less. The numbers reflect sales of single-family houses that were completed in July, meaning the transactions likely began a month earlier.

In Santa Clara County, much of the interest has been in the lower-priced, entry-level market, while higher-priced homes have held steady, Houde said.

``Where sales prices have gone upward is in the lower part of the market,'' Houde said. ``Anything under $500,000 is very active. The top end is not doing much, not falling or climbing.''

Richard Calhoun of Creekside Realty said the July figures reflect ``what you'd expect for this time of year.''

Ken Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate at University of California-Berkeley's Haas School of Business, said that with interest rates low, the housing market is likely to remain strong for the near future.

``The rate of increase in prices over the past year has been very large, so it's not surprising to see them level off at this point,'' Rosen said. ``I don't think this number presages a decrease in the near future for home prices.''

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