When New Yorkers think of the Financial District, the last image that would ever come to mind is that of a residential neighborhood. After all, the Financial District wouldn’t be called such if it was populated with residential buildings rather than business headquarters and offices. Yet, that is exactly what many Manhattan residential developers have envisioned in the recent years. In an attempt to revitalize the Financial District as a viable residential neighborhood in downtown Manhattan, many developers have converted what were once old office buildings into condos. The only problem is that nobody wanted to buy. But a buyer's loss is swiftly turning into renters' gains.

Last week, Citi Habitats and Prudential Douglas Elliman released a second quarter report claiming that the Manhattan rental market was on fire, and things weren’t going to cool off any time soon. Rent prices were supposedly at an all-time high and weren’t expected to drop in the near future. This was music to every Manhattan landlord’s ears, but a punch in the gut (or wallet) to everyone searching for a luxury rental in Manhattan. However, a more in-depth look at the aggregate rent paid each quarter dating back to 1991 shows that the peak in the luxury rental market actually already occurred.