SpareFoot, an online marketplace that streamlines the rental process for self-storage customers, has released its Storage Trends Quarterly Report, which examines self-storage rental performance and customer behavior. Based on its own surveys of hundreds of self-storage tenants, the report also includes pricing and reservation data from the SpareFoot network of more than 6,000 facilities.

The online report, which was released as part of The SpareFoot Blog, includes facts and data about self-storage rental activity. Features include an interactive U.S. map showing the average rental price of 5-by-5 self-storage units by state. It also reveals the most popular facility promotions (free truck rental is at the top) and the five markets demonstrating the strongest growth from the second to the third quarter of 2012 (Lakeland, Fla., ranked first at $1.20 per square foot). Also included is a pie graph showing the number of sources customers use to research storage before renting a unit.

According to the report analysis, the data reflects the increasing prevalence of apartment rentals throughout the United States in 2012, with more people leasing homes instead of buying. Four states in which average apartment rents have increasedCalifornia, Colorado, Massachusetts and New Jerseyalso fall among those states with the highest average price for a 5-by-5 storage unit.

The analysis also addresses moving trends in relation to unemployment rates. The data shows southern states generally outperformed northern states for storage bookings from the second to the third quarter. States like Arizona, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Texas saw a significant increase in bookings, while New Jersey experienced the biggest decrease in bookings. This may be attributable to people migrating to states with less unemployment, the report suggests.

The complete report can be viewed at http://blog.sparefoot.com/storage-trends-quarterly-december.