Even though Bellevue’s economy has remained strong in recent months as the national economy has declined, the city is showing some signs of a slowdown, city council members learned this week.

Bob Derrick, director of the city’s Office of Economic Development, told the City Council on Monday that housing prices and sales have slipped, retail sales have slowed and fewer commercial development projects are in the permit pipeline.

Nevertheless, the expectation is the city’s economy will be growing again by late 2008 or early 2009, Derrick said.Bellevue has experienced unprecedented growth and development during the past five years.

This growth followed one of the city’s worst economic periods between 2000 and 2002, when office vacancy rates soared to about 25 percent.

Those rates are now down to about 6 percent, due largely to the rapid expansion of Microsoft into the Bellevue office market.

According to Derrick, the city’s economy was “supercharged” in 2007.

Construction began on 3 million square feet of office space;

More than 4,000 residential units, mostly in the downtown area, were either under construction or in permit review;

Also an estimated 1.5 million square feet of retail space was either under construction or in development; and about 1,000 hotel rooms were under construction or development.

Council members were told that in coming months, the Office of Economic Development will focus on several key areas, including retention and expansion of small businesses; revitalization of neighborhood commercial areas, international trade and marketing and promotion.