As USA Today reported, the recent cooling of the real estate market nationwide is causing the the buyers of condos to dry up.  Coupling that with the trend of converting multi-family housing to condos (which I see is still a hot trend in the Richmond market), there is a glut of condos available.

This is having two directly observable results:

1. Rents are rising as the supply of rental units shrinks due to conversions to condos, and the demand for rentals increases as mortgage rates rise.
2. Some developers are noticing the first result, and converting their condo buildings back to rental units.

(see also Stronger Market for Apartment Investors  & New Hiton Hotel redevelopment of Miller & Rhoads )