According to a report released by GeoDirectory from GKM Economic Consultants one-eighth of all commercial properties in county Mayo was vacant in the third quarter of this year. The survey also broke down the rates in the three big towns in Mayo, Castlebar, Ballina and Westport. The county town came out on top of the list with 19.3 per cent of commercial premises recorded as vacant, with 18 per cent in Ballina and 11.3 per cent in Westport.
Mayo came in tenth place in the highest vacancy rate in country in the survey with it’s total of 12.5 per cent vacancy rate. The national vacancy rate by town in the country was 12.3 per cent, and Castlebar was tenth in the list of largest vacancy rates by town with it’s 19.3 per cent result, the highest in Connacht according to the report. Ballina had the third highest vacancy rate in the providence with it’s 18.3 per cent, with only Carrick on Shannon separating the two big Mayo towns. The news was better for Westport with the Mayo tourist hotspot the coming in 15th place for the lowest vacancy rate nationally in the list and the lowest in Connacht of towns surveyed in August, with it’s result of 11.3 per cent.
The report found that there were a total of 6,781 business address points in Mayo, with 700 in Ballina, 822 in Castlebar and 524 in Westport. When it’s broken down the 19.3 per cent of vacant properties in Castlebar works out to 158 units, while the 18 per cent vacancy rate in Ballina works out to 126 units, while in Westport 11.3 per cent rate in Westport is 59 units. While the county wide figure is 847 vacant commercial units.
The breakdown by sector of business in the county was 46.6 per cent services, 24.2 per cent distribution, 7.8 per cent health and social, 7.3 per cent construction, 5 per cent industry, 5.6 per cent education, 1.6 per cent financial and 1.8 per cent public services. The survey found that Westport had 56.9 per cent of business involved in services sector, more than ten per cent ahead of the national norm according to the survey.
Commenting on the latest Geoview Quarterly Report, Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory said, “The third GeoView report with DKM Economic Consultants offers comprehensive data on the commercial vacancy rates and economic activity in 101 locations in Ireland. This in depth analysis highlights the variance in towns across counties. The increase in the overall commercial vacancy rate to 12.3% provides a significant insight into the commercial property landscape in Ireland in Q3 2013.”
The survey was carried out by using the GeoDirectory database of commercial address points. GeoDirectory was established by An Post and Ordance Survey Ireland and is a comprehensive address database of commercial property in the state. The survey relates to commercial units recorded on August 13 this year.
