Manya Rathore
Research expert covering India
U.S. self-storage - statistics & facts
Residential property prices in the U.S. have grown dramatically over the past decade, driving the demand for self-storage. Whether it’s a prized vinyl record collection or unwanted hand-me-down furniture, there are countless uses for a self-storage unit. Besides saving space at home, self-storage is a popular option for people who move, renovate their house, or need it for business purposes.
The U.S. self-storage market has demonstrated robust growth and resilience, with leading companies like Public Storage and Extra Space Storage benefiting from high demand.
Which are the leading self-storage companies?
In 2023, Public Storage was the largest self-storage owner, with 205 million square feet of rentable space in the United States and abroad. Besides having the biggest portfolio, the company boasted the largest market cap in the self-storage sector. Although the rentable area operated by Public Storage was only 25 million square feet more than that of the second-largest self-storage owner, Extra Space Storage, its market cap was almost twice as high. Both companies have enjoyed strong revenue growth over the past five years, indicating robust market demand and growth potential within the sector.How has self-storage investment performed in recent years?
Self-storage is one of the popular alternative real estate investment asset classes. Operators are often real estate investment trusts (REITs) – publicly listed companies that operate income-generating properties. The market has grown markedly since 2019, with the market cap of self-storage REITs growing from 63.31 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 to 101.59 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. Part of that success is thanks to trends such as working from home, the housing boom during the COVID-19 pandemic, or the increasing share of young adults living in rental apartments without sufficient storage. Since 2022, commercial real estate has faced significant headwinds because of economic uncertainty and rising interest rates. Amid these challenges, self-storage REITs have yielded higher returns than the overall REIT market, demonstrating resilience in the sector. As of February 2024, U.S. REITs traded at a discount to net asset value (NAV) amounting to about 15 percent, meaning the stock price was 15 percent below the underlying asset value. Self-storage REITs enjoyed a much more optimistic investment sentiment, with a discount to NAV of 4.4 percent.The U.S. self-storage market has demonstrated robust growth and resilience, with leading companies like Public Storage and Extra Space Storage benefiting from high demand.
