82% of Self-Storage Deals in 2025 Went to Independent Operators. The Invisible Empire Is Driving the Market.

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Here is a number that has not been in any of our posts before.

Eighty-two percent.

That is the share of self-storage transactions in 2025 that went to independent operators. Not REITs. Not institutions. Not private equity platforms.

Independent operators.

The number comes from a Bisnow market analysis published October 2026 covering the full 2025 transaction cycle. The total: roughly $5 billion in deal volume, up about 40 percent year over year.

Break the number down

$5 billion in total deal volume is a round number that says “big market.” The 40 percent year-over-year increase says “coming back.” But the 82 percent tells you who the market is actually for.

Here is the deal. When people outside the sector think about self-storage, they picture the REITs — Public Storage, Extra Space, CubeSmart — because those are the names on the signs. And the REITs are active. Public Storage closed its $10.5 billion acquisition of National Storage Affiliates during this period. Extra Space added $90.7 million in facilities in Q2 2026 alone.

But the transaction volume numbers show something the sign names do not. The bulk of deal activity lives at the level below them.

The Invisible Empire, with a data point

We have been calling the $400K-$2 million range “The Invisible Empire” since before this blog existed. The phrase comes from Joe’s ebook. It describes the roughly 70 percent of US self-storage facilities that operate outside institutional ownership — the mom-and-pops, the couplepareneur deals, the small-portfolio operators who own three to fifteen facilities and run them remotely.

The 82 percent number is the first time the transaction data has publicly confirmed what we have been saying from experience: this range is where the market actually transacts.

What the composition means for a buyer

The practical implication is straightforward. If 82 percent of deals go to independent operators, the competition you face as an independent buyer is other independents — not institutions with a lower cost of capital. The bid-ask dynamics are set by people who underwrite like you, not by a REIT acquisition team with a 25-basis-point cost advantage.

That does not mean deals are easy. It means the playing field is level. The advantage goes to the buyer who has their underwriting ready, their financing lined up, and their sourcing relationships built — not to the buyer with the biggest balance sheet.

Run the numbers. The data says the independent market is liquid, active, and the dominant channel. Whether you buy this year or next, the composition of the market favors the buyer who operates at your scale. That is a structural fact, not a timing opinion. Run the numbers. Then run them again.