Commercial vacancy rate is 12 per cent

WICKLOW’S commercial vacancy rate was 12 per cent in Q2 2018, down 0.5 percentage points (pp) compared to the same period in 2017 according to the latest GeoView Commercial Vacancy Rates Report, published by GeoDirectory this week.

In Wicklow, Arklow at 18.8 per cent was the town with the highest commercial vacancy rate in Q2 2018. Greystones was the area with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in Wicklow at 5.7 per cent.

The national commercial vacancy rate stands at 13.1 per cent, with 14 counties recording a decline in commercial vacancy rates compared to only two counties at the same period in 2017. This suggests that the economic recovery is slowly beginning to take hold outside of Dublin. However, there is still a clear divide between counties in the East and West of the country, and in urban and rural areas, in terms of commercial vacancies.

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.’