New Ross has treble Gorey’s commercial vacancy rate

New Ross has among the highest vacancy rates of commercial properties in the south east, according to a report published this past week.

The commercial vacancy rate in Ireland hit a ten-year high last year, according to the new report by GeoDirectory.

GeoDirectory is Ireland's official complete database of commercial and residential buildings.

The national rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 14pc in the final quarter of last year.

In total, there were 29,581 empty commercial units across the country.

Gorey and Greystones were the towns with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the country, at 7.1pc each.

The rate for New Ross was 20.9pc, compared to 16.1pc in Enniscorthy and 12.3pc in Wexford town.

Co Wexford had the second lowest rate of commercial vacancy nationally, at 10.4pc.

Commenting on the findings of the latest Commercial Vacancy Rates Report, Dara Keogh, Chief Executive of GeoDirectory said: “The rate of commercial vacancies is the highest level recorded by GeoDirectory since the Commercial Vacancy Rates Report began in 2013, continuing the trend of increasing rates in recent years. It is likely that this will continue in the short to medium term, as working-from-home becomes more formalised, combined with the growth of online retail and services, resulting in businesses requiring less physical space than previously.”

The report identified a notable drop in the number of service and retail and wholesale units.

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