Is the self storage supply pipeline slowing?

One of the biggest questions in self storage right now is simple: are we overbuilt? 

The supply data shows a mixed answer. Yardi Matrix increased its Q4 2025 forecast by 4.3 percent for 2025 and 4.6 percent for 2026, bringing expected 2025 completions to 59.44 million NRSF and 2026 completions to 48.23 million NRSF. But the more important trend is deceleration. The forecast still shows new self-storage supply declining through 2027 and beyond. That matters because new supply pressures rents, occupancy, and lease-up timelines. For buyers, the right question is not, 'Is storage still viable?’ The right question is, 'How much new storage is hitting this exact trade area?’. Storage is a hyper local business with 70% of renters coming from a 10 minute drive area from the facility. There used to be a “if you build it, they will come” mentality with self storage development. That’s not the case anymore. Many developers have been burned by fast and loose underwriting resulting in slow lease up. Even seasoned developers that did their homework pre-development have felt the impact as additional developments sprout up agnostic of supply and demand, tanking the entire trade area. Construction costs have risen significantly bringing pause to many builders who relied upon cheap materials and quick build times, especially in the southern regions of the US. Most of the already zoned, flat land in high population areas has been gobbled up. Municipalities are placing moratoriums on new storage after a glut of development in the late twenty-teens and early 2020’s. These realities have cause the self storage supply pipeline to slow but certainly not stop.