Commercial vacancy rates in Ireland have increased from 12.6% in fourth quarter 2015 to 13.5% in the fourth quarter 2016, according to new research published by GeoDirectory today.
The GeoDirectory database shows there were 213,666 commercial address points in Ireland with 28,796 of those properties lying vacant.
The data indicates a substantial unused commercial building stock not just across the country but also in Dublin.
The new research is from the the fourth quarter 2016 edition of GeoView which is published twice a year. It is the twelfth in the series but the fourth year-end review of commercial vacancy rates in Ireland that not only provides national data but also analyses the data by province, county and town and across a broad range of sectors in the Irish economy.
Counties on the west coast of Ireland tended to perform less well than their eastern counterparts with Sligo (18%), Leitrim (16.4%), Donegal, Mayo (15.6% each), Galway (15.4%) and Limerick (15.3%) having the six highest vacancy rates in the country.
This split is again evident when looking at a provincial level, Connacht at 15.7%, had the highest vacancy rate of any province, while Leinster (excluding Dublin), had a vacancy rate of 12.5%.
Munster also recorded a vacancy rate below the national average at 12.9% while Ulster and Dublin recorded overall vacancy rates of 14% and 13.7 % respectively.
In the last year, commercial vacancy rates increased in 25 out of the 26 counties. Limerick was the only county that retained the same vacancy rate as Q4 2015, albeit still at a notably high 15.3%.
Kerry recorded the lowest vacancy rate of any county in Q4 2016 at 10.2%, which was a 1pp rise since Q4 2015.
Sligo recorded the highest commercial vacancy rate of any county in Q4 2016 at 18%. The largest percentage point increase over the last year was in Tipperary where the vacancy rate increased by 2.2pp to 14.1%. This was closely followed by Mayo and Offaly where annual increases of 2.1pp and 2pp were recorded respectively.
Commenting on the findings, CEO of GeoDirectory, Dara Keogh said, "In this edition of GeoView, we’re seeing the divide between the commercial success in the east and west growing. The six counties with the highest vacancy rates are on the west coast."
He added, "Our figures reinforce the theory that we have a recovery that is somewhat skewed with the west of Ireland falling behind the rest of the country. Even within Dublin, which is ahead of most other counties, we have a vacancy rate of 19.2% in Dublin 17, well above the county and national averages."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
