Designated Temporary Living

•  Military families/singles and college students are top self-storage customer sectors (due to their temporary living circumstances).

Foreclosures/Transient Circumstances

• While it did occur several years ago, the subprime crisis and subsequent foreclosures (displaced families) boosted demand for self-storage.

Millennials

• While millennials have been slow to become homeowners, their status as renters aids self-storage use.
• As millennials age, this cohort (80 million) represents 1/3 of all non-commercial self-storage renters. This is expected to rise as millennials enter ages where they are inclined to earn more income.

Low Rental Vacancy Rates

• In US areas where it is hard to find an affordable or accessible location (especially considering millennials’ desire for more exciting metropolitan areas), the use of self-storage tends to increase.

Additional Facts

• According to research from Deloitte, today’s self-storage owners “face challenges to their future growth and margins due to increased supply and competition from new players.”

• “The self-storage national vacancy rate rose 180 basis points to 13.4% in 4Q18, the highest since 4Q13.”