U.S. Self-Storage Market Institutional Analysis and Five-Year Forecast (2026–2031)

The U.S. self-storage sector has entered a pivotal inflection point. After a post-pandemic correction that saw national street rates decline for nearly three consecutive years and same-store NOI turn negative across every major REIT, the industry is approaching a supply-demand rebalancing that should reshape performance through the end of the decade. ⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ The $44–48 billion domestic market, spanning more than 2.1 billion net rentable square feet across approximately 52,000 facilities, now confronts a rare convergence: a rapidly contracting development pipeline, a frozen housing market suppressing move-related demand, and an accelerating wave of institutional consolidation headlined by Public Storage’s $10.5 billion acquisition of National Storage Affiliates announced in March 2026. ⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾ For institutional investors and operators, the central question is not whether the cycle will turn but when, and which markets and strategies will generate outsized returns as it does.

The Current Market Is Stabilizing After a Painful Normalization

The self-storage sector’s post-pandemic correction has been more protracted than most operators anticipated. National stabilized occupancy stood at 77.0% in Q4 2025 according to Yardi Matrix, essentially flat year-over-year but well below the extraordinary 96.5% peak recorded among REIT portfolios in Q3 2021. ⁽¹⁾ The divergence between institutional and non-institutional operators remains stark: REIT-managed portfolios maintained occupancy in the low 90s (Extra Space Storage ended Q4 2025 at 92.6%, Public Storage at 91.0%, and Global Self Storage at 93.0%) while smaller private operators ran in the low 80s or below. ⁽⁵⁾⁽⁶⁾ This 800–1,200 basis-point gap reflects the compounding advantages of dynamic pricing, digital marketing infrastructure, and revenue management sophistication that institutional operators deploy at scale.

Rental rate performance tells a similarly nuanced story. The average national 10×10 non-climate-controlled unit rented for $119 per month entering 2026, down 0.8% year-over-year, while climate-controlled units averaged $134, approximately flat. ⁽²⁾ More revealing is the move-in rate dynamic: Q4 2025 average move-in rates dropped to $96.44, a 10.7% year-over-year decline, reflecting aggressive discounting to sustain occupancy. Public Storage reported that its average annual move-in contract rent fell to $11.60 per square foot from $12.97 a year prior. ⁽⁵⁾ In-place rents, by contrast, remained relatively stable: Public Storage’s realized annual rent per occupied square foot was $22.50, up 0.6%, underscoring the widening gap between street rates used to attract new tenants and existing customer rate increases (ECRIs) that support revenue.

Same-store financial performance across the five public REITs in Q4 2025 reflected an industry near cyclical trough. Public Storage posted same-store NOI of negative 1.5%, while Extra Space eked out a positive 0.1%, CubeSmart declined 1.1%, and National Storage Affiliates narrowed its decline to just negative 0.7%, a substantial sequential improvement from negative 7.5% in Q4 2024. ⁽⁵⁾⁽⁶⁾ Global Self Storage, the sector’s smallest public operator at 13 properties, reported a full-year record revenue of $12.7 million but saw Q4 same-store NOI fall 4.1%. ⁽⁶⁾ In aggregate, REIT same-store revenue declined approximately 0.6% year-over-year in Q3 2025, and NOI declined 2.4%, pressured by rising property taxes and insurance costs layered onto flat top-line performance.

Several forward-looking indicators, however, suggest the worst is behind the sector. CubeSmart’s move-in rate trajectory improved from negative 10% in Q4 2024 to positive 2.8% in Q4 2025. Extra Space reported that 16 of its top 20 markets posted positive year-over-year move-in rates in Q4 2025, compared with just two a year earlier. ⁽⁵⁾ September 2025 marked the first month of incremental national rate increases after nearly three years of decline, with Yardi Matrix data registering positive 0.9% month-over-month growth. ⁽¹⁾

A Contracting Supply Pipeline Is Reshaping Market Dynamics

The most constructive element of the current outlook is the decisive moderation in new supply. The year 2024 represented peak deliveries at approximately 65.2 million net rentable square feet, roughly 3.3% of existing inventory. Deliveries declined to an estimated 55.1 million square feet in 2025, and Yardi Matrix projects approximately 51.1 million square feet in 2026, a 7.3% year-over-year reduction representing just 2.4% of total stock, meaningfully below the long-term average of 4.2%. ⁽¹⁾⁽⁷⁾

The contraction becomes more dramatic in subsequent years. Construction starts declined 20% in 2024 versus 2023, and the prospective pipeline contracted 25.3% year-over-year by Q4 2024. Abandoned projects surged 104.2% versus 2022, and deferred projects grew 44.5%. Projects now spend an average of 583 days in planning before breaking ground, a record duration that reflects both tightened lending conditions and extended entitlement timelines. ⁽⁷⁾ Yardi Matrix forecasts deliveries declining to approximately 37.3 million square feet by 2027 and roughly 29 million square feet annually by decade’s end, representing just 1.4% inventory growth. ⁽¹⁾

The economics driving this pullback are unambiguous. State-of-the-art multi-story facilities now cost $90–$120 per square foot excluding land, up from $60–$80 pre-pandemic. The 25% tariff on imported steel announced in 2025 pushed domestic steel prices up 18% and added an estimated 5% to total construction budgets. Construction loan rates of 7–9% have compressed development spreads to near zero in many markets. ⁽⁷⁾⁽⁸⁾ At a cap rate of 5.5–6.0% and all-in development costs of $90–$120 per square foot, the return-on-cost arithmetic simply does not pencil for speculative development in most geographies.

Geographic variation in supply pressure is extreme. Sarasota–Cape Coral led all metros with 9.1% of existing inventory under construction as of November 2025, having added 20.3% of its current stock in just three years. Phoenix, Tampa, Las Vegas, and Orlando each carried pipelines exceeding 5–6% of inventory. ⁽²⁾⁽⁷⁾ Atlanta absorbed more new supply than any other market, with 2.4 million square feet delivered in 2025 alone. By contrast, Boston carried virtually zero new construction at just 0.7 square feet per capita, making it the most supply-constrained major market in the nation. Portland (0.3% under construction), San Francisco (0.8%), and San Jose (near zero) similarly benefit from structural barriers to entry. ⁽²⁾ The supply story over the next five years will be one of pronounced divergence: oversupplied Sun Belt metros working through excess while supply-constrained coastal markets enjoy pricing power.

Demand Drivers Are Evolving from Transactional to Structural

Self-storage demand has historically been driven by the “Four Ds”: death, divorce, downsizing, and dislocation, life events that generate approximately 50% of all storage rentals, with another 33% attributable to space constraints. ⁽²⁾StorageCafe’s 2025 analysis expanded this framework to six drivers, adding distribution (commercial/e-commerce storage) and decluttering as increasingly material categories. Understanding the current demand environment requires disaggregating these drivers.

The housing market freeze represents both the sector’s primary headwind and its most significant source of latent demand. With 56% of mortgage holders locked into rates below 4% and 30-year rates hovering near 7%, home sales in 2024 hit their lowest level in nearly 30 years. ⁽⁹⁾ Moving activity declined to its weakest point in over three decades, which industry analysts estimate reduced total storage demand by approximately 10%. Yet the freeze simultaneously extends average tenant duration, which reached 18.5 months in 2025, well above the pre-pandemic 9–14 month range, and drives “space mismatch” demand: 16% of Americans have rented storage to cope with being in a wrong-sized home, with another 25% considering it. ⁽⁹⁾⁽²⁾ Approximately 73% of mortgage holders say they would move if they could retain their current rate, suggesting a reservoir of pent-up demand that could release 200–400 basis points of occupancy when housing mobility resumes. The same dynamic extends to adjacent asset classes: RV and boat storage facilities, which depend heavily on homeowner turnover and household relocation patterns, face compressed move-in velocity in the current environment but stand to benefit disproportionately when mobility resumes, as owners who deferred vehicle storage decisions re-enter the market simultaneously.

Population migration continues to favor storage-intensive Sun Belt and Mountain West corridors. The South gained 2.685 million net domestic migrants between July 2020 and July 2024, with Florida alone absorbing 810,000, followed by North Carolina (384,000), South Carolina (300,000), and Tennessee (237,000). ⁽¹⁰⁾ All ten absolute population growth leaders are Sun Belt metros: Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Orlando, Austin, Tampa, Charlotte, San Antonio, and Jacksonville. However, interstate migration cooled noticeably in 2024, as Georgia, Texas, and Florida saw inflows flatten to near zero during the 12 months ending January 2025, and net international migration fell from 2.7 million to 1.3 million year-over-year, removing a secondary demand driver. ⁽¹⁰⁾

Household formation is decelerating from already modest levels. Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies projects 8.6 million new households over 2025–2035, or approximately 860,000 annually, well below the 10.1 million added in the 2010s. ⁽¹¹⁾ Under restrictive immigration scenarios, this figure could decline further. The median age of first-time homebuyers reached 40 in 2025, and an estimated 1.8 million “missing” households among Gen Z and millennials remain delayed by affordability constraints.

The commercial and e-commerce segment represents the fastest-growing demand category. Business tenants now account for approximately 14% of total units, with e-commerce businesses responsible for an estimated 18% of new leases. The business segment is growing at 5.8–7.9% annually, outpacing personal storage growth. ⁽²⁾⁽³⁾ Small and mid-size enterprises are increasingly converting standard storage units into micro-fulfillment nodes, attracted by month-to-month flexibility, strategic urban locations, and last-mile proximity. This micro-warehousing market is projected to reach $15.2 billion by 2030 at a 24.3% compound growth rate, and self-storage operators with loading bays, Wi-Fi, and 24/7 access are well positioned to capture this expanding addressable market.

Climate-driven demand is intensifying as a secular trend. NOAA recorded 27 separate billion-dollar weather disastersin 2024 at a combined cost of $182.7 billion, the second-highest annual count in 45 years. ⁽¹²⁾ The five-year average of 23 billion-dollar events annually is more than double the historical norm, and FEMA now issues approximately one major disaster declaration every four days. Hurricane Helene and Milton alone caused over $100 billion in damage across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas in late 2024, generating significant temporary storage demand. FEMA’s “Moving and Storage Expenses” program directly subsidizes disaster-displaced storage use.

Capital Markets Are Recalibrating Around New Institutional Realities

The self-storage investment landscape has undergone a structural transformation. Cap rates bottomed at approximately 5.0% in Q4 2022 and have since expanded to stabilize around 5.8% over the past six quarters, according to Cushman & Wakefield. ⁽⁸⁾ Class A assets in high-barrier markets trade in the high 4s to mid-5s, while Class B and C assets command 5.5–6.5% and 7.0–8.0% respectively. A survey of more than 40 industry experts found that 56% expect cap rates to remain largely unchanged through mid-2026. ⁽⁸⁾

Transaction volume has normalized from pandemic-era extremes. The three years spanning 2020–2022 produced nearly $50 billion in self-storage transactions, more than the prior seven years combined. Volume moderated to approximately $3.0 billion in 2024 across 822 properties, then rebounded: through November 2025, approximately $5.9 billion had traded across 681 assets at an average of $145 per square foot. ⁽⁸⁾ Average pricing per square foot has declined 12% from its $174 peak in Q1 2023 to $159 in Q2 2025, with a nine-quarter average of $152, reflecting the cap rate expansion. Private investors accounted for 75% of sellers and 45% of buyers, and a persistent bid-ask spread continues to moderate as price discovery matures.

The consolidation narrative has entered a transformative phase. Public Storage’s March 2026 announcement of its $10.5 billion all-stock acquisition of National Storage Affiliates creates a combined entity spanning approximately 4,596 facilities and 328 million net rentable square feet, with a pro forma enterprise value of roughly $77 billion. ⁽⁴⁾ The transaction follows Extra Space Storage’s $12.4 billion merger with Life Storage completed in July 2023 and Public Storage’s $2.2 billion acquisition of Simply Self Storage from Blackstone’s BREIT in 2023. CubeSmart formed a $250 million joint venture with CBRE Investment Management in February 2026 targeting high-growth Sun Belt acquisitions. ⁽⁵⁾⁽⁶⁾

The structural result is accelerating institutional ownership. Approximately 39% of U.S. self-storage properties now operate under an institutional brand, up from roughly 13% a decade ago, while the top four REITs control approximately 30% of total inventory, up from 17% in 2000. ⁽³⁾ Yet 75% of facilities remain under smaller regional or local ownership, presenting substantial consolidation runway. Third-party management is the primary bridge mechanism: Extra Space manages 2,263 properties, CubeSmart manages 862, and Storage Asset Management, the largest privately owned platform, manages 568 stores across 37 states, posting same-store revenue growth of 3.7% year-to-date through Q3 2025 that exceeded every public REIT. ⁽⁵⁾⁽⁶⁾

Debt markets remain functional but more selective than in 2020–2022. Bank loans price at approximately 6.0–6.5% at 60–75% loan-to-value, CMBS conduit loans at 6.75–8.0%, and bridge/mezzanine facilities at 9–12%. ⁽⁸⁾ Life insurance companies offer the most attractive rates at 4.5–5.5% but with lower leverage and a preference for Class A assets. The elevated rate environment has created refinancing stress for owners whose loans originated at 200–300 basis points lower, and construction lending scarcity has been a primary driver of pipeline contraction.

Self-storage’s long-term risk-adjusted return profile remains among the strongest in commercial real estate. The sector has delivered the highest average annual return of any property type since its inclusion in NCREIF in 2006, averaging 11.6% annually. NAREIT data shows self-storage REITs have compounded at 16.7% annually since 1994, the best of any REIT subsector over three decades. ⁽¹³⁾ Capital expenditure requirements average just 8% of NOI versus 13% or more for other sectors, and self-storage facilities can maintain positive cash flow at occupancy levels as low as 65%. Near-term returns have been soft (self-storage REIT total returns were negative 6.2% through October 2025) but this underperformance is cyclical rather than structural. ⁽¹³⁾

Technology Is Becoming an Operating Margin Force Multiplier

Operational technology has evolved from a competitive differentiator to a table-stakes requirement. Public Storage’s digital platform now facilitates 85% of customer interactions, reducing on-site labor hours by more than 30% while maintaining service levels. ⁽⁵⁾ AI-driven call handling at mid-size operators has scaled from 10% to nearly 80% of inbound calls. Smart lock adoption, led by providers such as Janus International’s Nokē system and OpenTech Alliance’s INSOMNIAC platform, enables fully contactless move-in, automated overlocking tied to payment status, and unit-level activity monitoring. Operators report positive return on investment within 12–18 months and the ability to charge premiums of up to 10% for smart-access units. ⁽⁷⁾

Dynamic pricing and revenue management represent perhaps the most consequential technological evolution. Platforms from Prorize, Veritec Solutions, and newer entrants like White Label Storage’s RevMan.ai leverage hundreds of AI algorithms to optimize street rates, existing customer rate increases, and lease-up pricing in real time. Veritec claims top-line revenue improvements of 9–14%, and industry benchmarks suggest revenue management platforms deliver at least 10% incremental revenue while paying for themselves within the first year. ⁽⁷⁾ The gap between sophisticated and unsophisticated operators is widening: the 800–1,200 basis-point occupancy differential between REIT and non-REIT portfolios is substantially a function of pricing technology.

Adaptive reuse and conversion projects are increasingly attractive as ground-up economics deteriorate. Approximately 191 million square feet of current U.S. self-storage supply originated from converted buildings: big-box retail, warehouses, office buildings, and other obsolete commercial properties. ⁽²⁾ Conversion costs of $7–$20 per square foot of gross floor area represent 25–50% savings versus ground-up construction, with compressed timelines: the entire permitting and design process can be completed in under one year versus two to four years for new builds. Los Angeles alone derives 17% of its inventory from converted space, and Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia lead in adaptive reuse activity. As office and retail vacancy persist, the conversion pipeline should expand meaningfully through 2031. ⁽²⁾⁽⁷⁾

Regional Performance Is Defined by Supply Discipline and Barrier Height

The most pronounced investment theme in the current market is the divergence between supply-constrained and supply-saturated geographies. The West led all regions with 79.8% occupancy in Q4 2025, followed by the Midwest (77.9%, up 60 basis points year-over-year, the only region with meaningful improvement), Northeast (76.7%, up 50 basis points), and South (75.0%, down 30 basis points, the weakest). ⁽¹⁾

Northeastern markets are commanding the strongest pricing nationally. Boston posted 11–15% year-over-year rent growth with zero new supply delivered in 2025 or scheduled for 2026, operating at just 0.7 square feet per capita. New York City averaged rents above $2.50 per square foot with 11.6% year-over-year growth. Washington, D.C. was the first major metro to register positive year-over-year rent growth, accelerating to 15.4% on a three-month basis. ⁽²⁾⁽⁷⁾ These markets benefit from extreme density, entitlement complexity, and land costs that create durable barriers to new competition.

Midwestern markets outperformed expectations. Chicago registered 14.4% annual rent growth in the first half of 2025 at 6.4 square feet per capita, while Minneapolis posted positive growth as its trailing three-year lease-up supply dropped from 20.3% to just 4.1%. ⁽²⁾ Indianapolis and Detroit also ranked among the nation’s top performers for year-over-year rent growth, benefiting from manageable supply pipelines and stable demand fundamentals.

Sun Belt markets, by contrast, are working through the consequences of aggressive construction cycles. Atlanta experienced negative 8% to negative 15% year-over-year rent decline depending on the measurement period, reflecting 2.4 million square feet of deliveries in 2025 alone. Austin declined approximately 8%, Denver dropped 13% (the worst among top-30 metros), and San Antonio fell 3.3%. ⁽²⁾⁽⁷⁾ Dallas–Fort Worth, the nation’s largest storage market by total inventory at more than 10 square feet per capita, experienced negative 9.5% rent declines. Florida markets present a mixed picture: Sarasota–Cape Coral has added 20.3% of its inventory in three years with another 9.1% under construction, while markets like Pembroke Pines posted 9.7% rent growth with zero new supply. ⁽²⁾

West Coast markets leverage high barriers to entry into persistent pricing power. Los Angeles averaged rents above $2.50 per square foot with 7% growth at just 2.0 square feet per capita. San Jose carried virtually zero construction. Seattle, Sacramento, and Riverside–San Bernardino all recorded double-digit annual rent growth. ⁽²⁾ These markets demonstrate that supply discipline, whether imposed by regulation, geography, or economics, is the single most determinative factor in storage performance.

The Five-Year Outlook Favors Patient, Well-Positioned Capital

The analytical consensus points toward a sector that bottoms in 2025–2026, stabilizes through 2027, and enters a period of improving fundamentals from 2028 onward. ^(1)(7)(8) This outlook rests on the convergence of three structural factors: supply reaching cyclical lows, housing market mobility gradually recovering, and demographic tailwinds strengthening.

On the supply side, new deliveries are projected to decline from 2.4% of inventory in 2026 to approximately 1.5% by 2028–2029, levels well below the long-term average of 4.2% and below the estimated annual demand growth rate. This creates a favorable absorption dynamic for existing operators. ⁽¹⁾ However, a notable caveat emerged in Yardi Matrix’s February 2026 update: construction starts rose 25% year-over-year in Q4 2025, suggesting that developer interest has not entirely disappeared, and the firm accordingly increased its 2028 delivery forecast by 13.7%.

Demand recovery hinges substantially on housing market normalization. Industry experts project mortgage rates drifting to the high-5% range by late 2026, which could begin unlocking the pent-up mobility reflected in the 73% of mortgage holders who say they would move if they could retain their rate. Argus Self Storage Advisors projects 200–400 basis points of occupancy recovery when housing activity resumes. ⁽⁷⁾ Demographic tailwinds provide additional support: Baby Boomers, 42% of whom currently rent a unit, are entering peak downsizing years, while 50% of Gen Z respondents plan to rent storage, representing the largest forward demand cohort. ⁽³⁾ The aging population is projected to reach 21% of the total by 2030, structurally increasing estate transition, assisted living migration, and downsizing-related demand.

Cap rates are expected to stabilize near 5.5–5.8% through 2026, with potential for gradual compression toward 5.0–5.5% by 2028–2029 as fundamentals improve and the sector solidifies its status as a core institutional asset class. ⁽⁸⁾Transaction volumes should increase from 2025 levels as bid-ask spreads narrow and the buyer pool expands: 65% of respondents in Cushman & Wakefield’s investor survey indicated intent to be net buyers. Consolidation will accelerate; by 2031, institutional and REIT ownership could reach 45–50% of total inventory, up from 39% today, driven by scale economics in technology, data-driven pricing, and capital access that smaller operators cannot replicate independently.

Rental rate growth is projected at 0–2% in 2026, rising to 1–3% in 2027, 2–4% in 2028, and potentially 3–5% annually from 2029 onward as supply-demand equilibrium is restored. ⁽¹⁾⁽⁷⁾ National occupancy should trend back toward the low-to-mid 90s at the REIT level and mid-to-upper 80s industry-wide by 2029–2030.

Risk Factors Require Market-Level Rather Than Sector-Level Analysis

The principal risks facing the sector over the forecast period are localized rather than systemic. Overbuilding in specific MSAs, including Sarasota, Phoenix, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, Austin, Dallas, and Charlotte, will depress returns in those markets for 12–36 additional months beyond the national recovery timeline. ⁽²⁾⁽⁷⁾ Operators with concentrated exposure to these geographies face extended lease-up periods and margin compression.

Recession risk, while elevated by tariff-related trade uncertainty, is mitigated by the sector’s demonstrated resilience. During the 2008 Great Financial Crisis, self-storage REITs were the only real estate sector to produce positive returns, generating 5% against a negative 37% performance for the broader REIT market. ⁽¹³⁾ COVID-19 produced an even more dramatic outperformance, with occupancy surging to 96.5% by Q3 2021. The critical caveat is that both recovery periods benefited from construction freezes that allowed demand to absorb existing inventory without new supply competition, a dynamic that could recur if recession materializes while the pipeline is already contracting.

Regulatory headwinds are expanding. More than 15 states have enacted moratoriums or restrictions on new self-storage development since 2019, extending entitlement timelines and raising barriers to entry, paradoxically benefiting existing operators while constraining growth. ⁽³⁾ Property tax increases remain a persistent margin pressure, and insurance premiums continue to rise in climate-vulnerable markets. Competition from alternative storage solutions (PODS, valet storage operators like Clutter, which serves 6,500 cities reaching approximately 60% of Americans, and peer-to-peer platforms like Neighbor.com) remains a niche factor capturing less than 1% of total market demand but warrants monitoring as logistics costs decline and consumer preferences evolve. ⁽³⁾

Conclusion: A Sector Positioned for Asymmetric Upside

The U.S. self-storage market in 2026 presents a classic late-cycle opportunity for institutional capital willing to execute with geographic precision and operational sophistication. The investment thesis rests on a supply-constrained future: with deliveries declining from 3.3% of inventory in 2024 to a projected 1.5% by 2028–2029, the sector’s historically reliable mean-reversion mechanism is firmly engaged. ⁽¹⁾⁽⁷⁾ The $10.5 billion PSA-NSA transaction signals that the industry’s most sophisticated operator views current conditions as a generational consolidation opportunity rather than a period of distress. ⁽⁴⁾

Three strategic themes should guide capital allocation through 2031. First, supply-constrained markets (Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., San Jose, Seattle, and select Midwest metros) offer pricing power and durable income growth with minimal downside risk. Second, technology-enabled operating platforms capable of deploying dynamic pricing, smart access, and remote management create a 500–1,200 basis-point occupancy advantage over unsophisticated competitors, and third-party management of fragmented local portfolios provides a capital-light entry point. Third, adaptive reuse of obsolete retail and office properties offers development returns at 25–50% lower cost basis than ground-up construction, with compressed timelines and municipal support.

The sector’s structural characteristics remain unmatched in commercial real estate: low capital intensity, recession resistance validated across multiple cycles, an expanding customer base now approaching one in three American households, and a fragmented ownership landscape that rewards scale. ^(3)(13) The post-pandemic correction has tested these structural advantages and found them intact. Patient, analytically rigorous capital deployed in the right markets and operating platforms over the next five years should capture a compelling risk-adjusted return as the sector transitions from cyclical trough to renewed growth.

March 4, 2026, by a collective of authors at MMCG Invest, LLC, SBA 7(a) and 504 feaisbility study providers.

Sources

(1) Yardi Matrix, Self-Storage National Monthly Reports and Supply Forecast, Q4 2025 and February 2026 updates.

(2) StorageCafe (Yardi Systems), “Self Storage Industry Trends” and “1 in 3 Americans Rent Self Storage”, 2025.

(3) SpareFoot, “U.S. Self-Storage Industry Statistics,” updated 2025.

(4) Public Storage, Inc., Form 8-K filed March 17, 2026, re: Acquisition of National Storage Affiliates Trust (SEC/EDGAR).

(5) Public REIT SEC Filings: Public Storage (PSA), Extra Space Storage (EXR), CubeSmart (CUBE), and National Storage Affiliates (NSA), Q4 2025 Earnings Releases (Form 8-K).

(6) Inside Self Storage, “Self-Storage REITs Release Financial Results for 4Q 2025,” February 2026; Global Self Storage, Inc. Form 8-K, Full-Year 2025 Results.

(7) Modern Storage Media, “2026 Self-Storage Outlook: 10 Industry Experts Speak Out,” January 2026; CRE Daily, “Self-Storage Outlook: Supply Growth Moderates Amid Rising Costs,” 2025.

(8) Cushman & Wakefield, “U.S. Self Storage: Market Trends & Sector Outlook,” 2025–2026; SkyView Advisors, Q4 2025 Self-Storage Industry Report.

(9) Placer.ai, “Stalled Moves, Sticky Tenants: The State of Self-Storage in 2026,” March 2026.

(10) U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates and Domestic Migration Data, 2020–2024; George W. Bush Presidential Center, Sun Belt Migration Analysis, 2025.

(11) Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, “New Projections Anticipate a Slowdown in Household Growth and Housing Demand,” 2025.

(12) NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, “Assessing the U.S. Climate in 2024,” January 2025; NOAA Climate.gov, “2024 Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters.”

(13) NAREIT, “Self-Storage REITs: Soft Fundamentals but Disciplined Balance Sheets,” 2025; NCREIF Property Index, Self-Storage Returns 2006–2025.