Pandemic Migration Heats Up Self-Storage Market

Self-storage followed the trajectory of many asset classes during the pandemic, according to Evan Hudson, a real estate partner at law firm Stroock & Stroock. At the beginning, it performed poorly, and then robustly. While a few factors contributed the strong performance, migration to new markets certainly helped.

“In the case of self-storage, the performance reflects fundamentals,” Hudson tells GlobeSt.com. “More people are moving, especially from dense urban cores to the periphery. As they move about, they need a place to stash their stuff.” Hudson adds that enhanced unemployment benefits and bond purchases by the Fed helped to increase the money supply, helping to drive the price of financial assets overall, although this was not unique to self storage.