If you’ve been telling yourself the market will bounce back before you sell, you’re not alone. Many self-storage owners made that call in 2023. Others doubled down in 2024. Now, well into 2026, a large portion of the market is still sitting on the sidelines waiting for conditions to improve.
The issue is not patience. The issue is misunderstanding what that patience is actually costing you in real time.
Values have pulled back roughly 10 to 15% from peak levels depending on the asset and market. In some markets where new supply has been elevated and rents have taken a meaningful hit, values are off as much as 20 to 30%. This is not a projection or a pessimistic take. It reflects where deals are actually trading today. Higher interest rates and a more disciplined lending environment have also changed how buyers underwrite deals, putting additional pressure on pricing. Many owners are still anchored to what their property was worth at the peak. That adjustment has already happened, whether you acted on it or not.
The most common justification for waiting is that rent growth will close the gap. It hasn’t played out that way. National rent growth has flattened, and in many markets it has declined due to continued new supply and softer demand. Move-in rents have come under the most pressure, with some markets seeing high single-digit to double-digit year-over-year declines. The income growth needed to push values back to prior levels is simply not materializing on any near-term timeline.
Meanwhile, every month you wait, you are absorbing operating costs, dealing with management and tenant issues, and making ongoing capital decisions, often while passing on real buyer demand that exists right now. Transactions are happening. Lenders are back in the market. Buyers are actively pursuing stabilized assets with clear operational upside. The difference today is not a lack of demand. It is a reset in pricing expectations.
Waiting on rate cuts is not a strategy. Hoping the market turns is not a strategy. Start with reality. Get a current, data-driven broker opinion of value based on actual comparable transactions, not outdated assumptions or peak pricing benchmarks. Then make a decision and execute on it.
You cannot control the market, interest rates, or timing. You can control how you respond.
Hope is not a strategy. Execution is.
Thinking about a sale? Let’s talk about what your facility is worth today.
Contact, David Perlleshi & Frank DeSalvo of Franklin Street.
Source: Franklin Street
