The big question: Will this new wave of growth create a more urban, compact Sacramento, as many community activists and politicians hope? Or will it follow the time-tested pattern of past booms in the late 1970s, the second half of the 1980s and the first half of this decade, pushing ever-larger homes farther into farmland?

Perhaps it’s easiest to expect more of the same. Suburban development has for decades been Sacramento’s main growth industry, aside from state government.

During this decade’s housing boom, builders constructed 156,000 homes, condos and apartments in the Sacramento region – largely on empty land in suburban cities. Much of this last wave of housing on former farmland has proved especially vulnerable to shredded values and foreclosures – a fate far less common in established neighborhoods closer to jobs.

Still, signs of change were starting to emerge even before the housing market fell apart. Loft-style housing projects were popping up all over Sacramento’s central city. And construction had begun on two 53-story condominium towers on Capitol Mall.

So might visions of mid- and high-rise living in downtown Sacramento take off where they left off – just as it seemed the city was reaching a new level?

Looking ahead, analysts believe the next wave of residential growth in the Sacramento region – perhaps still several years off – might be different. It’s likely to roll in with expensive gasoline, higher home energy costs and lenders’ continued insistence on tight credit.

State and federal policies governing the flow of public money increasingly favor more compact, transit-friendly types of development. And as baby boomers age, they are expected to move down to smaller housing units.

All these forces could mean more people in the next wave of growth will live in smaller homes, and more may live downtown. But no one should underestimate the ethos of the Central Valley: People here like yards and space.

The sales tally included 3,495 existing homes and 320 new homes in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, according to the La Jolla-based researcher. Six of every 10 closed escrows were in Sacramento County, said DataQuick.

July sales beat June’s 3,758 total. But it was well below 4,126 closings in July 2008.

It’s the second straight month that sales have fallen below last year, when a massive supply of discounted bank repos fueled a sharp uptick in sales to first-time buyers and investors. The share of repo sales, which exceeded 70 percent early this year, fell below half in Sacramento County in July, according to the Sacramento Association of Realtors.

A dwindling share of repos drove up the county’s median price again in July to $180,000, DataQuick reported. That’s after two months holding steady at $175,000.

More significantly, the rate of year-over-year price declines greatly slowed again in July in Sacramento County, with prices 14.3 percent below the same time last year. For much of the past two years Sacramento County’s median prices – where half the homes sell for more and half for less – have slipped 30 percent or more from the same time a year earlier.

Regional highlights from DataQuick for new and existing homes combined:

• Sacramento County reported 2,318 sales, up from 2,284 in June. The $180,000 median price compared to $210,000 in June 2008.

• Placer County reported 617 sales, up from 598 in June. The county’s median sales price of $295,500 was down 14.3 percent from $345,000 last year.

•El Dorado County’s 237 sales were up from 218 in June. Its median price, $330,000 was down 15.4 percent from $390,000 in July 2008.

• Yolo County’s 240 sales were up from 225 in June. The county’s $281,500 median price was down 3.9 percent from $293,000 the same time last year.

• Sutter County reported 110 sales, down from 123 in June. The county’s $160,000 median price was down 21.2 percent from last year’s $203,000.

• Yuba County’s 113 sales were also down from 136 in June. The $155,000 median price was down 15.5 percent from $183,500 in July 2008.

• Nevada County reported 151 closed escrows, up from 143 in June. The county’s median sales price, $320,000, was down 14.1 percent from $372,500 the same time last year.

• Amador County’s 29 sales were down from 31 in June. Its $197,250 median price was down 32.6 percent from $292,750 in July 2008.

Regionally, the number of for-sale signs also fell for a 23rd straight month in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties after peaking at 16,262 in Aug. 2007. Sacramento-based researcher TrendGraphix reported 6,572 homes on the market in the four counties as July ended, the fewest in four years.

TrendGraphix said 14 percent of the for-sale signs were tied to bank repos and 27 percent to buyers seeking short sales, where banks accept less than owed to avoid the higher costs of foreclosing.

The real estate service Trulia also reported this week that 27 percent of Sacramento-area listings have cut prices, with the average drop being 11 percent.