Construction of U.S. self-storage space still booming, but rents are suffering

An analysis of more than 380 metro areas has found the United States has added 190 million square feet of self-storage space during the past five years. Some 27 percent of the new space was concentrated in 10 major cities, with the New York–Newark–Jersey City metro area leading the pack with 3 million square feet added during 2019.

The report, compiled by STORAGE Café, also found that among the 10 most active development markets, the Houston area has the most self-storage square feet per capita, the equivalent of one standard storage unit for every 10 people. The market with the largest inventory is Dallas–Fort Worth, with more than 62 million square feet of total self-storage inventory. The country currently has more than 1.4 billion square feet of self-storage inventory, out of which 190 million square feet, or 13 percent, was built over the span of the past five years.

On the downside, the construction binge sent self-storage rents plummeting in 2019, accor