Edenderry has second highest commercial vacancy rate in country

Almost one-third of commercial properties in Edenderry are vacant, the latest issue of GeoView has revealed.
With 31% of commercial units vacant in quarter two this year, Edenderry is the town with the second highest vacancy rate in the country, with its vacancy rate increasing by a whopping 8.5% compared to the same period last year. It follows hot on the heels of Ballybofey in county Donegal, which has a vacancy rate of 31.3%.
The news for county Offaly didn’t get any better as GeoView also revealed that the commercial vacancy rate in the county as a whole during the second quarter was 14.7%, which was above the national average of 13.1%.
This was the largest increase in commercial vacancy rate in the country, with Offaly’s rate jumping from 12.7% in the second quarter of last year.
Longford saw the largest move in the other direction with the vacancy rate decreasing from 13.2% to 12.9% in the same period.
Speaking following the publication of the report, Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory said: “In this edition of GeoView, we’re seeing commercial vacancy rates beginning to creep up again with the average national rate reaching 13.1%. The gap between the east and west of the country has continued to grow in the last 12 months. The vacancy rate in Leinster, excluding Dublin has come down 0.4pp to 12% while the rate in Connaught has gone up 0.3pp to 15.2%. The five counties in Connaught all featured in the top seven highest vacancy rates in Ireland. Dublin City Centre is also showing a surprisingly high vacancy rate with 18.5% of commercial property vacant in Dublin 2.”
Annette Hughes, Director of DKM Economic Consultants said: “The focus on major towns in Ireland, as well as vacancy rates at county level, featured in the GeoView gives its readers a unique view of the profile of the Irish commercial building stock. For example we can see that while Kerry recorded the lowest vacancy rate in the Country at 9.4%, it is worth noting that the main towns in Kerry – Tralee, Killarney and Listowel – had vacancy rates in double digits. Thus other locations in Kerry must have much lower vacancy rates in order to generate an average of 9.4%”.
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