Commercial vacancy rates increased in all provinces last year

Commercial vacancy rates increased in all four provinces last year, according to a new report.

The national commercial vacancy rate stood at 13.3 per cent during the final quarter, which represented a 0.1 per cent increase on the same period the year before.

In total, 16 counties recorded increases in their commercial vacancy rates, with decreases occurring in only six counties, the latest GeoView Commercial Property Report, from GeoDirectory and EY-DKM Economic Advisory Services said.

Sligo, at 18.9 per cent, was the county with the highest commercial vacancy rate. The five counties with the highest vacancy rates were all located in Connacht, a sign of the prominent east-west divide in terms of commercial activity.

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Lowest commercial vacancy

At 10.1 per cent, Meath recorded the lowest commercial vacancy, followed by Kerry (10.7 per cent), Wexford (10.9 per cent), Westmeath (11.6 per cent) and Cork (11.7 per cent).

The commercial vacancy rate in Dublin was 12 per cent, which was 1.3 per cent lower than the national average.

Almost a quarter (23.5 per cent) of all commercial properties in Ireland are located in Dublin, equating to almost 50,000 commercial address points.

Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan accounted for only 7.8 per cent of the national total, while Munster and Connacht had 28.9 per cent and 13.7 per cent of the national total respectively.