489 new homes but residential vacancy rate remains high in Mayo
SOME 489 new residential address points were added to the GeoDirectory database for Mayo in the past 12 months, but the residential vacancy rate in the county remains high at 11.4% in June 2022.
This was higher than the national residential vacancy rate of 4.2%, according to figures released in the latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report.
The twice-annual residential buildings report, prepared by EY, found that a total of 86,708 residential buildings were classified as vacant across Ireland by GeoDirectory, a 5.9% drop when compared to the previous year.
Out of the 26 counties surveyed, the residential vacancy rate decreased in all but one, Wicklow. The highest vacancy rates in the country were found in the west and north-west of the country.
At 12.8%, Leitrim was the county with the highest vacancy rate, although it did post a year-on-year vacancy decline of 2.0pp. Mayo (11.4%), Roscommon (11.0%) and Donegal (9.7%) were the other counties to post notably high vacancy rates.
In addition to vacancies, 21,897 residential address points were classified as derelict. This total was 3.8% lower than the corresponding figure in Q2 2021.
Buildings under construction
In Mayo, 425 residential buildings were under construction in June. Nationally, residential construction activity accelerated in the first half of the year, with 22,390 residential buildings under construction last month - that number is 18.4% higher than the corresponding period in 2021.
New residential address points
In Mayo, 489 new residential address points were added to the GeoDirectory database in the 12 months to June 2022.
Nationally, a total of 34,198 new residential addresses were added to the database in the past year. This represents an increase of 34.1% on the total recorded between June 2020 and June 2021.
The number of residential property transactions increased by 13.5% in the 12 months to May 2022, representing an additional 5,500 transactions on the corresponding figure for the previous 12 months.
In Mayo, there were 1,225 residential property transactions, 10.1% of which were new dwellings.
The average property price in the county was €186,041.
Commenting on the findings of the GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report, Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory, said: “The level of residential construction has increased significantly over the past 12 months as Covid-19 public health measures on the construction sector were gradually eased then removed. This activity indicates a strong pipeline of residential properties that we would expect to enter the market in the months ahead.
“The GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report found that the number of vacant properties has also fallen in the last year, although when combined with derelict properties, there are still over 100,000 potential properties which could re-enter the market.”