After two years of cautious capital and slow-moving deals, 2025 marked a meaningful reset for the self-storage investment market across Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. Transaction activity improved, pricing expectations stabilized, and—most importantly—buyers and sellers started speaking the same language again.
This wasn’t a story about runaway values or bidding wars. It was about functionality returning to the market.
Across the Southwest, deal volume increased year over year, even after stripping out a handful of large portfolio transactions that closed late in the year. What remained was a healthier signal: more organic, deal-by-deal activity, driven by realistic underwriting and motivated ownership.
Execution Took Center Stage
The biggest shift in 2025 wasn’t pricing—it was execution.
After an extended period of pricing discovery, market participants adjusted to today’s capital environment. Buyers underwrote forward-looking cash flow with greater confidence around interest rates and rent growth. Sellers, meanwhile, became more pragmatic about the true cost of capital and its impact on value.
The result?
Deals didn’t just get done—they got done cleanly.
Market-Specific, Asset-Specific… Always
Across Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, one theme was consistent: there is no such thing as an “average” deal anymore.
Cap rates remained highly property-specific, influenced by:
Institutional-quality facilities in strong metros continued to command premium pricing, while assets with operational inefficiencies or locational challenges required sharper pencils and more disciplined underwriting.
Primary metros led activity, but secondary and tertiary markets regained attention as investors sought compelling risk-adjusted returns and long-term growth.
Creative financing remained part of the toolkit—but increasingly as a way to optimize transactions, not salvage them.
A Healthier Market Heading Into 2026
As we move into 2026, the Southwest self-storage market appears more rational, more liquid, and better aligned.
Capital is active. Buyers are engaged. Sellers who understand today’s realities—and price accordingly—are finding a receptive audience. The opportunity is real, but the margin for error is smaller than it was during the last cycle.
Execution matters more than ever.
What This Means for Owners
Property values remain highly specific to the individual asset, but transaction velocity will be driven by owners who:
Positioning is no longer optional—it’s the difference between testing the market and actually transacting.
To maximize valuation, owners must understand what is creating value today, while also looking around the corner to protect that value as conditions continue to improve.
Argus has inventoried thousands of self-storage transactions nationwide, and Argus Broker Affiliates were involved in over 100 transactions in 2025 alone. This real-time market intelligence allows us to advise owners with precision—whether they are considering a sale today or planning for the future.
For the full detailed report, please request it here.
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