495 new address points but vacancy rate in Mayo still high

SOME 519 residential buildings were under construction in Mayo in December 2023, while 495 new address points were recorded in the county last year, according to the latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report, published today.

However, the high residential vacancy rates continues in the county at 10.7%, and it also accounts for 13.7% of the country's derelict address points.

The report, prepared by EY, found that Dublin and Leinster counties continue to record the highest levels of new construction activity in Ireland.

In the 12 months to December 2023, a total of 28,742 new residential address points were added to the GeoDirectory database, representing a slight increase of 0.8% compared to the corresponding period in December 2022.

Over half of the new address points were located in the Greater Dublin Area of Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow (50.3%), while Dublin itself accounted for over a third (33.2%) of all new residential addresses.

The residential vacancy rate in Mayo was 10.7% - the national average is 3.9%, a 0.1 percentage point drop. In total, there were 81,449 vacant units identified nationwide.

The highest residential vacancy rates continue to be found in the west of the country, with Leitrim (12%), Mayo (10.7%) and Roscommon (10.4%) recording the highest levels of vacancies.

The GeoDirectory Residential Buildings report also found that the number of derelict residential address points fell by 7.9% in the 12 months to December 2023 with a total of 20,780 derelict units identified across the State.

The highest proportion of derelict address points are located on the west coast, with Mayo registering the highest concentration, at 13.7% of national total, followed by Donegal (11.7%) and Galway (8.7%).

There were 1,120 residential property transactions in Mayo in the 12 months to October 2023, with an average property price of €217,321.

Commenting on the overall findings, Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory, said: “Over the past 12 months we have seen increases in the number of buildings under construction and new residential address points across the State, which is a positive development. The report has also identified a continued drop in the number of vacant and derelict properties, which would indicate that efforts and policies to bring these units into the housing stock are having an impact.”