When is a plateau not a plateau? Well, when a market dips at the same time every year for years on end, and then all of sudden it doesn’t, that even keel isn’t mundane at all. Quite the opposite: the absence of winter’s usual decline in rental market activity for luxury rentals in Manhattan couldn’t be more noteworthy. A recent market report showed that rents for Manhattan apartments have been essentially unchanged since October, which means that the usual winter season never materialized. We skipped right over it. Looking back to this time last year, rents are up across the board, especially for two-bedrooms, which is the most distinctive shift. Whereas rent increases in studios apartments in Manhattan led the way in March 2010 and 2011, large apartments are now taking the lead.

Under the current state of the Manhattan luxury rentals market, more and more investors are taking advantage of the prosperous opportunities and becoming landlords. And when it comes to savviness in investment opportunities, few sectors are as synonymous as Wall Street. According to the Wall Street Journal, several Wall Street firms have been bidding and successfully purchasing foreclosed properties and with the plans of converting them into short-term rentals. While many of these up-and-coming rentals may not come with concierge service or a rooftop terrace, the revenues they generate have the potentials to support and expand new residential developments in Manhattan.

When Sheffield 57, a luxury Manhattan apartment building on 57th Street, was originally built in 1979, it was a colossal building, standing 58 stories tall and holding 845 New York apartments for rent that tended towards the small; it was a building for lower-income families who wouldn’t mind the cramped living conditions if it meant they could live in the Clinton neighborhood.

Fast forward to 2005, when real estate investor Kent Swig bought the building for a then-unheard of $418 million, with an eye towards consolidating the apartments for rent and turning them into luxury condos for sale. But the purchase and subsequent plans for renovation sparked a battle between the developer and the tenants who already lived there. Renters wondered what would happen to their apartments, whether they’d be able to stay, and if they’d be able to put the rent they’d already paid towards a purchase.

It’s time to throw traditional conceptions about the winter rental market in Manhattan out the window. With ideal conditions for raising rents in luxury apartments in Manhattan – high demand, restricted inventory, and low vacancy rates - landlords have spent the past 6 months doing exactly that, which is why the average Manhattan rent in February was just $18 off its all-time high. Even in the best of times, winter is traditionally known for concessions, high vacancy rates, and lower rents, but the exact opposite has happened this year, which is why many buildings are opting to switch from condos to rentals. And in the absence of the usual ebb in market activity, spring and summer will likely push the average Manhattan rent even higher, especially in new apartment developments. Overall, the Manhattan rental market has risen 14% since its nadir in 2009, largely because many wealthy Manhattan residents are reluctant to buy luxury apartments out of fear that they will depreciate in value, creating a large pool of potential renters of luxury apartments in Manhattan who aren’t hesitating to forgo concessions and pay higher rents.

Believe it or not, there are 13 other cities in America where 2-bedroom apartments are more expensive than in New York City. So, in theory, if you moved to Honolulu, San Francisco, or even Long Island to rent a 2-bedroom apartment, you would have to pay more. These stats were compiled by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition using “fair market” rents – basically that means that they included rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartments – and this methodology certainly brought NYC’s ranking down. After all, no other city in America has as many rent-regulated apartments as New York City, not by a long shot. However, this study is far from nuanced, especially since it doesn’t break down average rents for 2-bedrooms by borough. Still, the report highlights an important point: if you want an affordable 2-bedroom in New York City, you might want to look north of 96th Street in Manhattan.