In 2021, National Storage Affiliates Trust spent the most in one year — $2.2 billion — on acquisitions than it ever had. But don’t look for the self-storage REIT to eclipse that total in 2022.
In a Feb. 22 call with Wall Street analysts, President and CEO Tamara Fischer said National Storage Affiliates is pausing “a little bit now” on the acquisition front due to the higher cost of capital and the decreased availability of high-quality facilities.
“Frankly, we don’t like what we’re seeing as much as what we were looking at last year,” Fischer said of the quality of potential acquisition targets.
Still, she added, National Storage Affiliates continues to look at every possible deal that it comes across.
“The strength and resilience of our industry continues to draw attention and increased interest in investing in self-storage,” Fischer said.
The Greenwood Village, CO-based REIT is “cautiously optimistic” about making acquisitions this year, projecting $400 million to $600 million in deals, Fischer said. “We’re seeing a handful of small and midsized portfolios that might prove interesting,” she said.
So far in 2022, National Storage Affiliates has closed about $20 million in deals, with $200 million and $300 million in acquisitions on the table, Fischer said during the REIT’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Highlights of National Storage Affiliates’ 2021 results include:
- Same-store revenue growth of 15.1%. This year, revenue growth is expected to be 8% to 9.5%.
- Same-store NOI growth of 19.8%. National Storage Affiliates forecasts same-store NOI growth of 9% to 11% in 2022.
- Same-store expense growth of 4%. The REI predicts expense growth of 5.25% to 6.5% this year.
Fischer described 2021 as a “banner year” for National Storage Affiliates.
