Dundalk has commercial vacancy rate of 19.3%

Louth had a commercial vacancy rate of 14.4% in the second quarter of 2023 according to a report by GeoDirectory Commercial Vacancy Rates Report published today. 

The rate in Louth is higher than the national average of 14.1%. 

Of the towns in Louth surveyed, Dundalk had the highest commercial rate at 19.3%, while Ardee had the lowest rate at 13.5%. Drogheda had a vacancy rate of 18%.

Louth’s commercial vacancy rate  of 14.4% in Q2 was the same for Q2 in 2022.  

It found that in the Accommodation and Food Services sector in Louth, the number of occupied commercial address points in Louth was 575. This sector occupied 12.4% of the commercial stock in Louth in Q2 2023.

It also provides some details on towns in Louth. The vacancy rate in Dundalk rose from 18.5% in Q2 2022 to 19.3% in Q2 2022. 

In Drogheda it fell from 18.8% to 18.0. In Ardee,  it also fell from 13.8% in Q2 2022 to 13.5% in Q2 2023.

In Dundalk,  the report shows that in Q2 2023, there were 1,322 occupied units with a NACE code. A NACE code is used to group organisations according to their business activities/sector.

Commercial units in Dundalk comprised the following sectors in Q2 2023:

Services – 48.0%

Retail and Wholesale – 26.7%

Health – 10%

Construction – 2.5%

Industry – 4%

Education – 4%

Finanical – 2.9%

Public Admin – 1.9%

For Ardee it was the following:

Services – 43.8%

Retail and Wholesale – 25.1%

Health – 13.9%

Construction – 3.0%

Industry – 5.6%

Education – 3%

Finanical – 3%

Public Admin – 2.6%

Nationally, the total stock of commercial properties in Ireland stood at 210,607 for Q2 2023. While there was a marginal decline in the total number of units when compared to Q2 2022, the number of vacant properties increased by 557 units, translating into a higher national vacancy rate of 14.1% in Q2 2023 compared with Q2 2022. 

Despite the marginal increase, this marks the highest vacancy rate recorded since the inception of the report in 2013. 

The vacancy rate increased by 0.2 percentage points (pp) in the year to Q2 2023, moving from 13.9% to 14.1%.

Vacancy rates increased across twenty counties, while six counties experienced a decrease.

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.”

Annette Hughes, Director, EY Economic Advisory said:

“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. "