New research published by GeoDirectory yesterday indicates that commercial vacancy rates in Ireland have increased from 12.6% in the second quarter 2015 to 13.1% in the second quarter 2016.
The GeoView Commercial Premises Vacancy Report is published by GeoDirectory and DKM Economic Consultants, tracking commercial vacancy rates nationally and by county.
The data shows that the highest vacancy rate of any county in Ireland was recorded in Sligo at 16.8%, followed by Leitrim at 16.3%, and Galway and Limerick, both at 15.3%. Kerry, which has consistently had a low vacancy rate over the past number of years, again had the lowest commercial vacancy rate at 9.4%, the only county with a vacancy rate in single digits.
The largest increase in commercial vacancy rate was seen in County Offaly with vacancy rates increasing from 12.7% in the second quarter 2015 up to 14.7% in second quarter 2016. Longford saw the largest move in the other direction with the vacancy rate decreasing from 13.2% to 12.9% in the same period.
GeoDirectory have conducted an analysis of 101 locations, including 79 towns across the four provinces plus 22 Dublin postcodes. Ballybofey in Donegal retains its position as the town with the highest vacancy rate at 31.3%.
Second on the list was Edenderry (County Offaly), with a vacancy rate of 31%, a large increase of 8.5 percentage points since this time last year.
Of the towns with the highest 15 vacancy rates, Tubbercurry (County Sligo) has moved up the most positions on the list from 27th to 12th, with its vacancy rate increasing 2.9 percentage points to 20.5%. Of the towns analysed, Greystones (County Wicklow) had the lowest vacancy rate at 4.5%.
A very high vacancy rate has been found in Dublin City Centre with 18.5% in Dublin 2 and 14.9% in Dublin 1. As a shortage of office space has been reported by estate agents in recent months, the reported vacancy rate would suggest there may be premises on floors above retail or office space lying empty. Eleven of the Dublin districts show a vacancy rate above the national average.
At a provincial level, Connaught saw the highest average vacancy rate of the provinces at 15.2% in the second quarter 2016.
Leinster (excluding Dublin) had an average vacancy rate of 12%, down 0.4pp since the second quarter 2015, possibly an indication that the economic recovery to date has been more prevalent in the east than in the north west of the country.
CEO at GeoDirectory, Dara Keogh says, "The gap between the east and west of the country has continued to grow in the last 12 months. The vacancy rate in Leinster, excluding Dublin has come down 0.4pp to 12% while the rate in Connaught has gone up 0.3pp to 15.2%."
He added, "The five counties in Connaught all featured in the top ten highest vacancy rates in Ireland. Dublin City Centre is also showing a surprisingly high vacancy rate with 18.5% of commercial property vacant in Dublin 2."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
