Richard Rogers looks at the kitchen at an open house at 5893 Taormino Avenue in San Jose, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)

Bay Area housing demand and prices continued a record-setting streak in January, as aggressive buyers pushed up year-over-year median sale prices for the 70th straight month.

A deepening shortage of homes for sale in the region drove up bidding for scarce supply. The median home price in the region rose to $710,000 in January, up from the median price of $628,000 a year ago, according to a report released Wednesday by real estate data firm CoreLogic.

Over the last six months, median home prices in the nine-county region have gained an average of 12.6 percent from the previous year.

But rising prices also meant a drop in home sales, particularly in entry-level units. The 4,884 home purchases last month represented a dip of nearly 8 percent from last year and the lowest January sales mark since 2008, according to CoreLogic.

CoreLogic research analyst Andrew LePage said the drop “has a lot to do with the continuing mismatch between housing supply and demand, especially in the lower price ranges.”

By Louis Hanse, Bay Area News Group