Athlone has county's highest commercial vacancy rate

The commercial vacancy rate in Roscommon showed the largest increase during the twelve months to the end of June last.
That's according to the latest GeoView Commercial Vacancy Rates Report, published by GeoDirectory last week.
Roscommon's commercial vacancy rate was at 15.4% at the end of Q2 2018, up 1.1 percentage points on the same period last year.

Westmeath’s commercial vacancy rate was 11 per cent in Q2 2018, down 0.2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2017.
The national commercial vacancy rate stands at 13.1%, with 14 counties recording a decline in commercial vacancy rates. 
The commercial vacancy rates in Athlone rose very marginally during the same twelve-month period, up from 18.3% to 18.4%. However, of the three towns measured in Westmeath, Athlone had the highest commercial vacancy rate.

Mullingar, at the end of Q2 2018, had a commercial vacancy rate of 13.2%, up from 12.3% at the end of Q2 2017, but still well below the Athlone level.
There was a decline in the level of commercial vacancies recorded in Moate, from 13.1% at Q2 2017 to 11.7% at end of June last.
Roscommon's sharp increase can be attributed to a huge rise in Boyle, which saw a commercial vacancy rate of 15.7% rise to a massive 22% over the twelve months.
Roscommon town saw a slight increase from 20.3% to 20.7%.
Roscommon had the fifth highest commercial vacancy rate of the 26 counties surveyed.

 

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.
Dublin was the county that recorded the largest commercial vacancy rate decline in Q2 2018, at 1.6pp.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.

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.
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.”