Limerick Chamber winter report reveals rental and house prices in county
LIMERICK Chamber has revealed that the business landscape has become “harsher” and “more competitive” in the Mid-West despite record employment figures in the region.
Details on the housing market, employments figures, trade and passenger numbers, population and hotel occupancy for Limerick were disclosed in the Chamber’s Winter Insights Report 2022.
The report stressed that businesses are now dealing with further supply chain issues, large increases in energy bills, staff and skills shortages, increased cost of borrowing and insurance premiums.
It states: “Despite the challenges for business, and households, some of the high-level regional economic indicators, such as employment and unemployment, are showing signs of resilience.”
Unemployment in Q3 2022 is the same as what it was in Q4 2021 at 4.5%, while employment in the Mid-West stands at 239, 500, an increase of 7,000 new workers into the labour market this year.
The report highlighted that the hotel sector in Limerick has begun to bounce back, with the occupancy rate standing at 78.7%, the largest seen in several years. Last year the rate was 16.1%.
More than 60% of Limerick businesses expect their selling prices to increase in the next six months and approximately half of the 300 businesses surveyed say they are at their 2022 turnover target.
“The supply of rental properties, let alone affordable rental properties, remains a key issue across the MidWest,” the report, compiled by Limerick-based economists warned.
In October 2022, there were just 129 residential homes to rent across the Mid-West (€1,219 average price). This broke down into 25 homes to rent in Limerick City and Suburbs at an average cost of €1,693.
As well as 40 homes in the county of Limerick (city and suburbs) at an average price of €1,447, 41 homes in Clare (€1,193 average price) and 48 in Tipperary (€1,052 average price).
For Q3 2022, the average house price in Limerick City was €230,000 (+3.9% increase on the same quarter in 2021), for Co. Limerick it was €278,000 (+6.3% on the same quarter in 2021).
Limerick has delivered 572 homes up to Q3 2022, compared to 409 last year.
Despite this, The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) outlines that Limerick needs 1,800 homes per year, which represents a “tripling of existing provision.”
Shannon Foynes Port (SFP) overtook Cork for the delivery of break bulk and completely overshadowed Dublin in handling 5.9 million tonnes of dry bulk compared to Dublin (the second highest) with 1.7 million tonnes, marking a good year for trade imports and exports.
However, Shannon Airport only accounted for 4% of the country's air travel, despite a Mid-West population of 595,000 people.
“Key business routes must be supported initially to create linkages with other European cities. As we saw over the summer, the dominance of Dublin Airport is inappropriate, especially when compared to other European nations,” the report on the Mid-West concluded.