Cork has Munster’s lowest commercial unit vacancy rate

FIGURES contained in a new report show that commercial premises in Co Cork had the lowest vacancy rate in Munster, while one Cork town had the lowest vacancy rate in the province.

The GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Report for the fourth quarter of 2023 shows that with 17,628 commercial properties occupied in Co Cork, the county had a vacancy rate of 12.2%, the lowest in Munster.

The county’s 12.2% vacancy rate was down slightly from 12.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022, comparing favourably with the national vacancy rate, which was 14.3%.

With a vacancy rate of 7.2%, Carrigaline had the lowest rate in the province, down marginally from 7.3% in the fourth quarter of the previous year.

By comparison, Shannon had the highest vacancy rate in Munster, at 29.8%, which was identical to the rate it recorded at the same time last year.

The health sector accounted for 9.5% of occupied premises in Munster, with Midleton having the highest occupancy rate in that sector, at 17.5%, followed by Carrigaline at 17.4%.

With industry accounting for 5% of occupied units in the province, Carrigaline had the highest rate of any individual town that was sampled in Munster, at 4.5%.

The service industry accounted for almost half of the occupied commercial units in Munster, at 49.5%, and in Co Cork, that sector accounted for 48%, with Cobh scoring the highest in the county at 54.4%, higher than the city’s rate of 50.1%. Retail and wholesale premises accounted for the next-highest number of occupied units in Munster, at 22.1%. In Co Cork, the sector accounted for 21.5%, with Midleton showing a rate of 24.7%, ahead of Mallow at 24%, Cobh at 21.2%, with Cork city and Carrigaline tied at 19.4%.

Cork was one of five counties to record a decline in vacancy rates, alongside Meath, Kilkenny, Laois, and Offaly.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, there were 8,376 vacant commercial buildings in Munster, with a commercial vacancy rate of 13.9%.

Nationally, there were 210,820 commercial properties in the 26 counties in the fourth quarter of 2023, with 180,774 of them occupied and 30,046 unoccupied, meaning that the national rate of occupancy was 85.7%, and the vacancy rate was 14.3%. Co Sligo recorded the highest vacancy rate at 20.5%, while Co Meath recorded the lowest vacancy rate at 10.1%.