Truist's most recent review of the self-storage REIT sector highlights a bifurcated pricing picture: rents remain down on an annual basis, yet sequential monthly data show some recovery. For 10x10 net effective rents, the firm recorded a 1.4% year-over-year decline in February 2026 - the fourth consecutive month of annual decreases.
That February reading follows a 0.8% year-over-year decrease in January and a deeper 3.3% decline in December, underscoring a pattern of weakening annual comparisons over the winter months. At the same time, monthly movement displayed improvement: rents rose 2.7% from January to February 2026.
Truist noted this sequential increase, while positive, remained below the 3.3% month-over-month rise registered in February 2025. Nonetheless, the February 2026 increase compares favorably with the pre-pandemic February historical average - which Truist reports as a negative 0.8% for the 2010-2019 period.
Leaderboard within the sector
Within Truist’s survey of self-storage REITs, Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) emerged as the top performing operator on the rent metric, producing net rent growth of 5.4% year-over-year. Truist highlighted that Public Storage posted the largest improvement in its year-over-year growth rate versus the prior month among the companies included in the survey.
That relative improvement positions Public Storage as an outlier against a broader industry trend of negative annual rent growth, suggesting the company has been able to generate stronger pricing outcomes than many of its peers during a period of sector-wide pressure on rents.
Recent results from Public Storage
Public Storage reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings per share of $2.60, a result that exceeded analyst forecasts. The company’s revenue for the quarter was $1.22 billion, which met expectations. Those reported financial results dovetail with the firm’s reported positive annual rent growth and reinforce the narrative of comparatively resilient performance within the self-storage group.
Takeaway
Truist’s data depict a self-storage market still contending with year-over-year rent pressure while showing signs of sequential rebound in early 2026. Public Storage stands out in the survey for both rent performance and an earnings beat, marking it as the top-performing name in Truist’s cross-section of self-storage REITs.