Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Rise of the Self-Storage Industry

Housing bubble theorists will offer you a list of reasons why it might have been appropriate to have a bit of a housing boom, and then (perhaps correctly) show you that the factors on their list are not big enough to explain all of the housing boom we actually experienced. The final step in their argument is to attribute all of the unexplained part of the housing boom to irrational exuberance.

Of course, the entire argument falls apart if their list is incomplete. For example, do those lists include this?



American's incredible accumulation of stuff is real (itself caused by China's seizing its comparative advantage in making that stuff), and the accumulation undoubtedly increased American's demand for space at home. The rise self-storage industry is a reflection of that increased demand for space.

Note that I do not claim that the entire housing boom is due to American's demand for closet space. In fact, that's the point: there are any number of things that we may someday understand to explain the residual, and I see no reason why those possibilities are limited to "irrational exuburance."

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Mr Mulligan,

This might be a silly question, but wouldn't it be useful to try to regress the rise in self-storage employment to and mortgage defaults/foreclosures and unemployment? My hypothesis for this trend is that some individuals get a self-storage unit when they are downsizing their living quarters, e.g., moving from their own apartment to that of a relative. I had a SS unit myself due to a spatial downsizing, and the other renters in my SS complex seemed to be in a similar situation.

roofing austin said...

Hi! I also noticed that small and medium sized enterprises would really need self storage facilities because of the costs involved. Maybe that is also one reason why they are able to make ends meet.

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Unknown said...

“The rise self-storage industry is a reflection of that increased demand for space.” That is right! As more and more people continue to purchase important things for their home, the demand for additional space continues to grow. Also, people are increasingly considering the security of their belongings. With self storage, they can have peace of mind knowing that safety of their belongings is assured.

-Ericka Muldowney

Unknown said...

I think there is a small correlation between the two things but by no means the sole reason. Commercial storage is just a useful service. People move around a lot more than they used to. Technology grows and we get more and more things we hold on to. I frequently use self storage in my life and I find it very helpful

Unknown said...

I feel like public storage in Toronto for example is a wonderful way to go. This way you can put whatever you need to in it, go and get it whenever you need it, and not have to worry about figuring out where to put it all in your house or basement.

Unknown said...

Hey I my friends I tell you something can you give me answer please Those first hours in your new home will be a lot less stressful if you've packed a survival kit. It should contain a kettle, tea and coffee, favourite toys for the kids, baby food and supplies, pet leads and collars and other essentials to help you hit the ground running and organised.
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Paul Turner said...

Thanks for sharing.Thanks for sharing such great and useful information.
Every time you experience the need for additional storage space is the ideal time to search for a better self storage facility that can accommodate all your storage needs. Do not wait long enough but act immediately and look for a self storage Lubbock, where you can store your personal items. For sure, there is one good self storage facility near your place or if you are living near in Lubbock, Texas.

Unknown said...

Thankfully, there are self storage facilities in existence today that can help people facing this kind of problem. Not all people, though, know about this but these facilities are really helpful. They can be used not only by private individuals but even by small business organizations. In other words, anybody needing storage space can take advantage of this facility.

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Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

one of the great access of convenient company storagement in America that can enjoy and safe storagement for all the luxuries and important materials .Having very few non-distressed self storage properties that have sold in Southern California that ensure one's property. Self storage is such a unique property type and most real estate brokerage firms do not have specialists with the expertise and experience it takes to maximize value for the sellers in this unique property niche,,please checkout this one..

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Anonymous said...

Thank you for your good articles it might give an important news in the recession of the economy.Many have feeling that self storagement begun to explode the industry of the self storage because of many people needs more space for their valuable things,.

There is always great demand for storage in salt lake and for self storage Salt Lake.

Unknown said...

The self storage unit industry is growing rapidly because consumer behaviour is constantly growing as well. People are buying more and more things without first disposing off their current stuff. People have grown to be overly attached to their possessions and are not willing to part with any of them despite some of them being unused for a long period of time. Renters of self storage units should be responsible enough to ensure they do a housekeeping of their storage unit at least once per year to get rid off any unwanted belongings be it through auctions or sales or to charitable organizations.

Unknown said...

Self storage in Ringwood is best to secure the furniture, extra residential materials and can save the commercial goods with all care for the visiting customers.

Unknown said...
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Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing the useful information with us. I would like to see some more information regarding this.
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Unknown said...


Thanks so much for putting this together.I have learned so much by reading your blog.



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agen sbobet said...

The most important to look for in a storage facility service is the security it can provide and outstanding customer service.
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Unknown said...

I want to know about best possible deals of self storage facility. Also I'll see a little more about the Self storage software companies providing help to them.

Unknown said...

The Henderson Nevada Storage is very interesting and exciting because this is very informative and you can get a a lot of idea in terms of auto storage in your area.

Yasir said...

Will need more employees when the jobless invest more, but lack of career insurance policy is not free. The advantages are funded by tax payers.m bubblegum casting

Unknown said...

The discussion is about the size of this effect and whether it would huge enough to healthy out other factors that might be encouraging companies to protect you. last minute flights

LJ said...

I wonder what the growth situation is now? I know that it must still be growing, as I've been using Pay Less For Storage and you can just see that a lot of people are using it!