Pacific Northwest Self-Storage Market Report

Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Wyoming 

Market Overview

Over the past few years, the self-storage industry has outperformed to become a significant participant in commercial real estate, becoming one of the country’s top investment classes. Occupancy rates remained steady at approximately 90% throughout the latter half of 2022, and this pattern has continued with minimal variation throughout 2023. However, street rates continue to be negative on an annual basis nationwide.

Regarding the Pacific Northwest, Portland has occasionally taken the lead nationally in terms of the number of new self-storage projects, as operators in this industry have aimed to take advantage of the substantial population growth that the metropolitan area has experienced in recent years, according to SelfStorage.com. Another notable feat in the Northwest is that Idaho has excess self-storage availability, boasting the highest self-storage-to-resident ratio in the nation, with approximately 10.76 square feet per person. This is nearly twice the national average of 5.4 square feet per person.

Highlights

• The self-storage sector in Washington State has experienced significant growth in recent years, primarily due to the increased accessibility of financing for self-storage projects.
• There are approximately 1,244 self-storage facilities located in the state of Washington.
• Oregon is home to more than 810 self-storage facilities, spanning over 28.7 million square feet of combined storage space.
• Idaho is home to more than 436 self-storage facilities, spanning over 17.5 million square feet of combined storage space.
• In recent years, a nationwide trend in self-storage development has led to an increased influx of self-storage investments into Montana, exceeding the usual levels.
• Montana is home to about 370 self-storage facilities spanning about 10.1 million square feet of combined storage space.
• Alaska is undersupplied, offering only 4.64 square feet of storage space per capita. The state is home to about 101 self-storage facilities covering approximately 3.2 million square feet of combined storage space.
• Wyoming is home to around 174 self-storage facilities spanning 4.4 million square feet of storage space.

Market Performance

Portland is one of the few markets that experienced an increase in average street rates in August 2023. The market is slowly recovering after street rates were weighed down by large amounts of new deliveries.

Sales

Out of the Pacific Northwest markets, Washington state saw the highest sales volume with $194 million, followed by Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Oregon and Idaho are additional markets to keep an eye on, with expanding inventories making the markets excellent investment opportunities.

Sales Volume by the Numbers Last 12 Months 

Source: CoStar Group

• Washington: $194M
• Oregon: $10.8M
• Idaho: $6.3M
• Montana: $2.4M
• Alaska: $1.8M

Market Sales Spotlights

Source: CoStar Group

• Washington
  • $713 million in transaction volume in the last two years.
  •  67% of buyers are from out of state.
• Montana 
  • The average cap rate in the last two years is 5.7%, with an average price per square foot of $56.
  • 82% of buyers are from out of state.
• Oregon
  • $196 million in transaction volume in the last two years.
  • 86% of buyers are from out of state.
• Idaho
  • $32 million in transaction volume in the last two years.
  • 90% of buyers are from out of state.
• Wyoming
  • The average price per square foot in the last two years is $122.