Self-storage rents have stabilized following mostly a year of decline, RentCafe reported this week.
Nationally, rents for storage units were down 2.2% year over year in December and declined annually in 70% of the nation’s 150 largest cities, the company said.
The most significant drop was in Port St. Lucie, Florida, with a 12.9% decline, followed by Boston (-11.5%) and Fayetteville, North Carolina (-8.3%).
Paradise, Nevada saw the biggest annual jump in rents at 7.1%, followed by Yonkers, New York (5.7%). Most markets that experienced rent increases were undersupplied with units, according to RentCafe.
On a nationwide basis, storage rents have steadied since October, with the average street rate across the country remaining at $132 or roughly $1.10 per square foot for the third consecutive month.
“Signs point to market stabilization in 2025, as many oversaturated markets have scaled back new deliveries and demand normalizes following the pandemic-driven surge,” RentCafe wrote.
Despite declining rents, it was a strong year on the construction side, with about 59.5 million square feet of new space delivered, an increase of 7% over 2023, the company reported.
“Factors like increased moving activity, shrinking home sizes and undersupply in select markets are sustaining demand and driving further development in targeted areas,” RentCafe wrote.
Author
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Victor Whitman is a contributing writer for Scotsman Guide and a former editor of the publication’s commercial magazine.