According to data collected by Self Storage Data Services Inc. (SSDS), rentals of self storage units in March 2010 were up 20 percent over February 2010 rentals. Rentals were up one percent compared to the same time period in 2009.
The SSDS releases a rental activity report every month. So far in 2010, the trend has been toward a gradual increase in the demand for self storage. In February 2010, self storage demand was up compared to January of this year, but was still down slightly compared to the year before. In February the rise in demand came mostly from a decline in the numbers of tenants moving out of self storage units -- more tenants were staying put than in January. Likewise, in January the move-in rate remained flat compared to the previous year, but tenants were more likely to keep their units, so total rental activity was up 10 percent compared to January of 2009.
SSDS based its March 2010 rental activity report on rentals reported by 1,400 self storage facilities in the United States. Taken as an aggregate, those 1,400 facilities report on the rentals of about 850,000 self storage units. They are only a sample of the total number of self storage facilities that are available nationwide -- the national Self Storage Association estimates that there are currently approximately 50,000 self storage facilities in the United States. Worldwide, most self storage facilities are located in the United States, with another eight thousand or so being located in other countries. About ten percent of American households rent a self storage unit.
Although the self storage facilities surveyed by SSDS represent only a small fraction of U.S. facilities, the company's data is the largest existing database of self storage statistics in the nation. The company was founded by Ray Wilson in 1992. Wilson has been involved with self storage since the 1970s, when self storage facilities were usually called "mini-warehouses." Interviewed in the SSA Globe, the magazine of the Self Storage Association, this April, Wilson reflected on the state of the self storage industry, comparing it to the development of the hotel industry. He noted that the self storage industry today is not only expanding, but is evolving.
"I find it encouraging," Wilson remarked, "to see how owners are dealing with the reality that, as a result of having satisfied pent-up demand, it is not just a new ball game it is a 'game change.'"
Private self storage operators, Wilson went on to explain, will "survive the next few years by learning what it takes to compete on a level they have never experienced before."
SSDS does not make its entire data report available to the general public. Subscribers, though, can download the report from SSDS's website.
Sources used:
Dunlap, John. "Ray Wilson...a pioneer in self storage stats: gathering data about the self storage industry for almost four decades." SSA Globe. April 2010.
"Self storage data services reports increased rentals in March." Inside Self-Storage. April 28, 2010.
"Self Storage Data Services reports stabilized occupancy for February 2010." Inside Self-Storage. March 25, 2010.
"SSDS releases self-storage rental-activity report for January 2010." Inside Self-Storage. Feb. 26, 2010.