Ballybofey has again been ranked the town with the highest commercial vacancy rate in Ireland.
More than a third (33.6%) of commercial buildings in the town were lying empty when sampled in the second quarter of this year. It showed an increase of 3.7 points since the same period in 2023, according to the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Report.
However, locals claim some units in the town are ‘deliberately’ left vacant and owners choose not to advertise them for rent or sale.
Letterkenny had the second highest vacancy rate in Ulster during the same period, and one of the highest in Ireland, at 26.6 per cent. Donegal town stood at 20.4% while Bundoran had the lowest in both Donegal and Ulster at 13.4%.
The commercial vacancy rate across County Donegal was 19.4% in June 2024. This figure represents an increase from the same period in 2023. The twice-yearly analysis, prepared by EY, found that the commercial vacancy in Donegal was higher than the national average of 14.4%.
After Ballybofey, the highest commercial vacancy rate in the State was Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford (30.2%) and Shannon, Co. Clare (29.8%). At the other end of the scale, Greystones, Co. Wicklow (5.6%) and Carrigaline, Co. Cork (7.2%) were the towns with the lowest vacancy rates.
The highest vacancy rates continue to be found in the west of the country with Sligo, at 20.5%, recording the highest proportion of vacant commercial units in Q2 2024. Donegal (19.4%), Galway (18.5%), Limerick (17.5%) and Leitrim (17.5%) rounded off the top five counties with the highest commercial vacancy rates.
The highest proportion of accommodation and food service units were found in counties in the west of the country, accounting for 24.0% of all commercial units in Kerry, 20.5% of all commercial units in Clare and 19.2% of all commercial units in Donegal.
Meath, at 9.8%, was the county with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the country and the only county in the State with a vacancy rate below 10%. Wexford (10.6%), Cork (12.4%), Kerry (12.5%) and Cavan (12.5%) were the counties to record the next lowest commercial vacancy rates.
In Dublin, the commercial vacancy rate was 13.3% in Q2 2024, an increase of 0.2 ppts compared to the previous year. Using NACE* codes to classify commercial units by economic sector, the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Vacancy Rates Report has identified broad trends in the use of commercial units nationally. Of the 180,515 occupied units nationally, 154,217 have an assigned NACE code.
The analysis found that the number of commercial units classified by NACE codes has decreased by 1,370 units between Q2 2023 and Q2 2024. The majority of this decrease can be attributed to the services sector and the retail and wholesale sector, which declined by 625 and 514 units respectively.
Looking specifically at the accommodation and food services sector, a total of 22,211 commercial units in this sector were recorded in June 2024. This represents a decline of 270 commercial units compared to the same period in 2023.
Commenting on the findings of the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Report, Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory, said, “The national commercial vacancy rate has increased steadily in recent years, and at 14.4%, is now at the highest level since GeoDirectory began tracking commercial vacancy data in 2013. Changing consumer habits, the growth of online commerce, remote working and rising business costs have all contributed to a realignment of the commercial property market. The reality is that some of these commercial units may never now return to the commercial stock, requiring action to provide opportunities for targeted regeneration projects and the repurposing of long-term vacant buildings.”
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