Latest figures show property vacancy rate in Waterford is slightly above national average

The property vacancy rate in Waterford is just above the national average, according to figures from CSO. 

The national vacancy rate for property was 4.3% in the final three months of 2021, the latest figures show.

In Waterford, the figure is slightly higher, at 4.4%. 

This rate was 2.3% in Dublin and 5.1% for the Rest of Ireland, figures released on Tuesday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveal. 

There has been a slight rise in the vacancy rate in Dublin over the last few years from a low of 1.7% in Q1 2018. Nationally, there has been a fall in vacancy rates from a high of 4.9% in Q1 2016.

The vacancy rate in Q4 2021 for rural areas (7.5%) was more than double the rate in urban areas (2.9%).

The highest percentage of vacant dwellings at a local authority level was in Leitrim (10.6%), Roscommon (9.5%), and Mayo (8.7%), with the lowest rates in South Dublin (1.4%), Fingal and Kildare (both 1.9%).

In Q4 2021 - where a match can be made to a Building Energy Rating (BER) assessment - vacancy rates were highest for apartments (3.7%) and lowest for semi-detached houses (1.8%).

Vacant dwellings were more likely to have a BER of F or G compared with all dwellings with a BER assessment. Ratings of F or G were given to 35.3% of dwellings vacant in Q4 2021 in their most recent BER assessment, but only 10.2% of all dwellings had one of these ratings."