Co Cork’s commercial vacancy rate stays the same to 11.5% in Q3 2014

GeoDirectory and DKM publish in-depth analysis of commercial vacancy rates for 101 locations in 26 counties

Highlights:

• The national commercial vacancy rate in Q3 2014 is 12.7% an increase from Q2 2014 (12.6%) and Q3 2013 (12.3%).
• Report includes vacancy rates for Carrigaline, Cobh, Cork City, Mallow, Middleton and Youghal and examines the breakdown of economic activity in each town.
• The Q3 edition included a year on year analysis of 101 locations, consisting of 79 of the largest towns in each of the 26 counties and the 22 Dublin postal districts
• Of the towns analysed, Greystones, Co. Wicklow has the lowest commercial vacancy rate at 4.4% and Ballybofey, Co. Donegal had the highest commercial vacancy rate of 32.2%.

4^th December 2014: The vacancy rate for commercial units or premises recorded in Co Cork is 11.5%% according to the third GeoView quarterly report on Commercial Vacancy Rates, published jointly by GeoDirectory and DKM Economic Consultants. Co Cork’s vacancy rate has remained the same 11.5% recorded in Q3 2013. In this issue it examined commercial vacancy rates in 79 towns across the country, including 22 Dublin postal districts.

The report found that there were 223,245 commercial address points across the country, with 28,251 classified as vacant. This gives an overall vacancy rate of 12.7%. This rate is up from the 12.6% reported in the Q2 2014 issue and the 12.3% recorded in Q3 2013.

2,983 of the 25,950 commercial address points in Co Cork are vacant. The report found the commercial vacancy rates in the six biggest towns in Cork are Carrigaline (8.4%), Cobh (15.9%), Cork City (13.5%), Mallow (13.5%), Middleton (12.6%) and Youghal (17.1%). The report compares the commercial vacancy rate in the same places to the Q3 2013 figures which were 8.2%, 15.7%, 13.7%, 12.0%, 13.1% and 17.8% respectively. GeoView Q3 2014 also includes a breakdown of economic activity in each town.

The two highest vacancy rates were recorded in towns located in the north west of the country. Ballybofey, Co. Donegal had the highest vacancy rate of 32.2%. This is 3.9 percentage points (pp) higher than it was in Q3 2013. The second highest vacancy rate of 24.2% was recorded in Inniscrone, Co. Sligo. Here, the vacancy rate increased by 2.2pp between Q3 2013 and Q3 2014.

At county level, the highest commercial vacancy rate of 16.6% was in Co. Sligo. Co. Kerry had the lowest commercial vacancy rate of 8.9%. Co. Clare’s commercial vacancy rate increased from 11.6% in Q3 2013 to 12.9% in Q3 2014. This represents a 1.4pp increase and was the largest increase experienced across all counties. Three counties experienced a decrease in commercial vacancy rate between Q3 2013 and Q3 2014. These were Kerry (-0.1pp), Dublin (-0.3pp) and Carlow (-0.4pp).

Connacht had the highest vacancy rate among the provinces in both Q3 2013 and Q3 2014. The Q3 2014 rate of 14.6% was 0.9pp higher than the 13.7% recorded a year earlier. The second highest rate was in Leinster where it increased from 12.4% in Q3 2013 to 12.6% in Q3 2014. The vacancy rate in Ulster increased from 11.4% to 12.3% over the same time period. The 12% recorded in Munster represents a 0.5pp increase from the 11.5% recorded in Q3 2013.

As expected, Co. Dublin (22% or 49,018 address points) had the highest number of unique commercial address points. This is followed by Co. Cork (11.6% or 25,950 address points) and Co. Galway (5.7% or 12,824 address points). Leitrim, Longford and Carlow had the lowest number of commercial address points, each with less than 3,000 units.

Commenting on the latest Geoview Quarterly Report, Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory said,

“This edition of Geoview shows that three counties have experienced a decline in their commercial vacancy rate over the last year. Towns with the highest commercial vacancy rates have seen little change in rates compared to last year with only one of these towns showing a decline in their vacancy rate.”

Annette Hughes, Director of DKM Economic Consultants said “This is the seventh comprehensive report on the commercial (i.e. non-residential) building stock across the country. By examining data at 101 different locations, the GeoView report gives its readers a unique view of commercial activity in Ireland. Evidence of the economic recovery in Dublin, at least, is apparent from the fact that 14 out of the 22 postal districts analysed, experienced a decline in vacancy rates over the year.”

The GeoView Commercial Premises Vacancy Report is published on a quarterly basis by GeoDirectory and DKM Economic Consultants, tracking commercial vacancy rates nationally and by county. 

A copy of the GeoView Commercial Premises Vacancy Rate Report is attached in PDF format.

ENDS

Notes to Editor: 

Mr. Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory is available for interview. 

The data in this report relates to dwellings in the database as of the 30^th of September 2014.

GeoDirectory was jointly established by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) to create and manage Ireland’s only complete database of commercial and residential buildings.  The figures are recorded through a combination of the An Post network of 5,600 delivery staff working with OSi. 

The GeoDirectory database is used by many different companies and organisations across a diverse range of applications. Its database and services are used by the Central Statistics Office to achieve more accurate census results, Bord Gáis Networks has used GeoDirectory to identify and categorise new potential customers and 11890 Directory Inquiries have used GeoDirectory to provide detailed directions and maps to their customers.

In the property sector, GeoDirectory is used by Daft.ie and the Property Registration Authority. In addition, utility companies, banking and insurance providers, and all local authorities use the database.

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