10% of commercial properties in Westmeath vacant

The commercial vacancy rate in Westmeath for the second quarter of this year was 10.4%, below the national average of 13.1%, according to the latest stats from GeoDirectory, which were published on Monday.
And while the county as a whole didn’t perform too poorly, some 15.8% of commercial properties in Athlone were vacant from April to June this year.
Moate fared slightly better with a commercial vacancy rate of 13.8% in the second quarter, while Mullingar had a commercial vacancy rate of 12.9%.
The number of empty commercial properties which were empty in county Roscommon was above the national average, with the county having a commercial vacancy rate of 14.2%. Roscommon town itself had a commercial vacancy rate of 22%, while the other town surveyed - Boyle - had a commercial vacancy rate of 14.5%.
Nationwide, GeoDirectory reports, commercial vacancy rates have increased, from 12.6% in Q2 2015 to 13.1% in Q2 2016. The report revealed that 28,615 of the 219,176 commercial address points in Ireland were vacant.
Kerry recorded the lowest vacancy rate of any county at 9.4% and Sligo recorded the highest vacancy rate at 16.8%.
The GeoView report includes an analysis of 79 towns across the country. Of the towns included in the report, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal, had the highest vacancy rate at 31.3%.
The largest increase in commercial vacancy rate was seen in county Offaly with vacancy rates increasing from 12.7% in Q2 2015 up to 14.7% in Q2 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.
The GeoView Commercial Premises Vacancy Report is published by GeoDirectory and DKM Economic Consultants, tracking commercial vacancy rates nationally and by county. A copy of the GeoView Commercial Premises Vacancy report is available at www.geodirectory.ie  and www.dkm.ie