Greystones has the lowest vacancy rate
ARKLOW HAS THE HIGHEST RATE IN COUNTY WICKLOW
GREYSTONES has the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the State, according to a new report.
The latest GeoDirectory Geoview Commercial Vacancy Report reveals that just 5.7 per cent of commercial properties in Greystones were vacant in the last quarter of 2017. This figure contrasts strongly with Arklow which, at 20.2 per cent, has the highest vacancy rate in the county and the 15th highest rate out of the 80 towns analysed nationwide.
The vacancy rate for Wicklow town is 15.2 per cent, while the rate in Bray is 12.9 per cent.
The GeoDirectory figures show that 69.3 per cent of all vacant commercial properties in Co Wicklow have been vacant for over three years.
The county’s commercial vacancy rate stood at 12.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017, representing a decrease of 0.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2016. That means Wicklow has the seventh lowest rate of vacant commercial properties in the country.
The national commercial vacancy rate stood at 13.5 per cent at the end of last year. Sligo, at 18.7 per cent, was the county with the highest vacancy rate.
According to the report, there were 211,958 commercial address points across the country in the last quarter of 2017 and, of these, 28,091 were classed as being vacant.
The report also found that commercial activity was notably concentrated on the east coast with Leinster (including Dublin) and the Greater Dublin Area accounting for 49.4 and 33.2 per cent of the overall stock respectively. This contrasts sharply with Connacht and Ulster, which account for just 13.7 per cent and 7.8 per cent.