Commercial vacancy rates in Limerick higher than national average

THE HIGHEST level of vacancy rates in commercial premises has been recorded, with Limerick surpassing the national average.

The commercial vacancy rate in Limerick stood at 16.9% in June, compared with the national average of 14.1%.

The latest figures have been revealed by the GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Report. 

Of the urban areas in county Limerick analysed, Abbeyfeale had the highest commercial vacancy rate in Q2 2023 at 22.1%, while Limerick city had the lowest at 19.4%.

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The report, prepared by EY, found that the national vacancy rate stood at 14.1% in June, a marginal increase of 0.2 percentage points (pp) when compared to the same period in 2022.

The national commercial vacancy rate is the highest level recorded by GeoDirectory since it began reporting on the rates in 2013. 

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dara Keogh, Chief Executive of GeoDirectory said: “Businesses are clearly still struggling with the increasing costs of doing business in regard to energy costs and food inflation. 

“An additional challenge this year has been interest rate increases, which are generating some pressures for commercial owner occupiers and tenants.”

Commercial vacancy rates increased in 20 out of 26 counties in the 12 months to June 2023, with a total of 29,798 vacant commercial units recorded across Ireland.

Shannon, Co. Clare recorded the second highest commercial vacancy rates in the country at 29.4%.

There were 180,809 occupied commercial address points in Q2 2023, representing a decline of 874 on the corresponding figure in Q2 2022. The services sector was hit the hardest, suffering a decline of 876 units, followed by the retail and wholesale sector which suffered a decline of 603 units.

The analysis also found that within the Services sector, the Accommodation and Food Services sector accounted for 14.4% (22,481 units) of all commercial address points in Ireland in June 2023. 

Despite the continued decline in Retail address points, Retail and Wholesale remained the second-largest sector in terms of occupied commercial premises with 34,481 commercial address points.

Annette Hughes, Director, EY Economic Advisory said that the Irish economy remains in a “good position” overall: “After several years of strong construction activity in the commercial sector, the increases we are seeing in commercial vacancy are to an extent unsurprising, with trends such as working from home, sustainability and energy efficiency likely having some impact. 

“While there have been increases in the cost of doing business for some companies, the overall Irish economy remains in a good position, with further growth and increases in the numbers employed forecast.”