National Commercial Vacancy Rate Falls to 13.1 per cent
GeoView Commercial Vacancy Report Highlights:
- The national commercial vacancy rate has fallen to 13.1 per cent in Q2 2018, down 0.4 percentage points (pp) on the same period in 2017
- 14 counties recorded a decline in commercial vacancy rates, the majority of these occurring in Leinster
- Dublin registered a drop of 1.6 pp over the past twelve months, while Roscommon saw the highest increase (1.1 pp)
- Meath and Kerry, at 10.4 per cent, are the counties with the lowest commercial vacancy rates
- Sligo is the county with the highest commercial vacancy rate (18.8 per cent)
- Ballybofey, Co. Donegal, remains the town with the highest commercial vacancy rate in the country (28.8 per cent)
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Overview
National Commercial Vacancy Rate
The national commercial vacancy rate has fallen by 0.4pp to 13.1 per cent in Q2 2018 according to the latest GeoView Commercial Vacancy Rates Report, published by GeoDirectory today. Encouragingly, the report found that 14 counties recorded a decline in commercial vacancy rates, compared to only two counties at the same period in 2017. This suggests that the economic recovery is slowly beginning to take hold outside of Dublin. However, there is still a clear divide between counties in the East and West of the country, and in urban and rural areas, in terms of commercial vacancies.
Dublin was the county that recorded the largest commercial vacancy rate decline in Q2 2018, at 1.6pp. Within the capital, 16 districts out of 22 recorded vacancy rates lower than the national average. Dublin 2, registered a significant drop in its commercial vacancy rate (5.6pp), while Dublin 16, at 7.1 per cent, had the lowest commercial vacancy rate in Dublin. In contrast, the highest commercial vacancy rates in Dublin were found in Dublin 8 and Dublin 11, both at 15.8 per cent.
Meath and Kerry were the counties with the lowest commercial vacancy rates in the country at 10.4 per cent, while Sligo was once again the county with the highest commercial vacancy rate at 18.8 per cent.
At a provincial level, Leinster’s commercial vacancy rate stood at 12.3 per cent, while at the other end of the scale, Connacht had the highest provincial commercial vacancy rate at 16.3 per cent. Of the ten counties with commercial vacancy rates lower than the national average, six were located in Leinster. All five counties in Connacht had commercial vacancy rates higher than the national average.
Town Commercial Vacancy Rates
GeoDirectory has carried out an analysis of 80 towns across the four provinces. The report found that Ballybofey in Co. Donegal was the town with the highest commercial vacancy rate at 28.8 per cent, followed by Kilrush, Co. Clare (26.6 per cent), Edgeworthstown (26 per cent), Edenderry, Co. Offaly (25.7 per cent) and Shannon Co. Clare (25 per cent). Of the 15 towns with the highest commercial vacancy rate, New Ross (21.3 per cent) in Co. Wexford was the only to be located in Leinster.
Greystones, Co. Wicklow (5.7 per cent), Maynooth, Co. Kildare (7.5 per cent) and Gorey, Co. Wexford (9.1%) were the towns with the lowest commercial vacancy rates in the country.
Analysis of Key Economic Sectors
Of the 184,410 occupied commercial vacancy addresses in Ireland in June 2018, 86 per cent were allocated a NACE* code, allowing an analysis of the GeoDirectory database by economic sector. As per previous GeoView Commercial Vacancy Rates Reports, the services sector was the dominant economic sector for commercial activity, accounting for 47.6 per cent of the overall stock. This is followed by Retail and Wholesale (24.2 per cent) and Health (9.1 per cent).
Speaking about the findings of the latest GeoView Commercial Vacancy Rates Report, Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory said, “We are beginning to see evidence that the economic recovery is taking hold outside of Dublin, albeit at a slow pace. 14 counties recorded a drop in commercial vacancy rates in the year to date, compared to only two at this point last year. While this is a positive development, economic activity is still centred around Dublin, with Connacht, Ulster and the Midlands lagging behind.”
Annette Hughes, Director of EY-DKM Economic Consultants said, “The national commercial vacancy rate has fallen by nearly half a percentage point to June 2018 compared with the corresponding level in June 2017, with over half the counties in Ireland registering a decline. However, the stubbornly high commercial vacancy rates in western counties remain a concern, with Connacht, on average, 4pp higher than Leinster.”
ENDS
For Further Information:
Killian Keys, Wilson Hartnell, 086-1024302 / 01-6690030,
killian.keys@ogilvy.com
Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory and Annette Hughes, Director of EY-DKM Economic Advisory are available for interview.
*NACE Rev. 2 is the statistical classification of economic activities; an acronym for General Industrial Classification of Economic Activities within the European Communities.
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For all of the GeoView Commercial Vacancy Property Reports from 2013 visit here