Kerry property vacancy rate over double the national average

The report also stated that almost 370 residential buildings were under construction here at the end of the year, with more than 600 residential address points in Kerry added to GeoDirectory over the course of 2022.

The residential vacancy rate in Kerry stands at 8.3 per cent, much higher than the national average of exactly four per cent but some way behind the county with the highest vacancy rate, Leitrim (12.2 per cent).

The lowest vacancy rates were in Dublin (1.2 per cent) and Kildare (1.3 per cent).

The report also found that 1,287 residential-property transactions took place in Kerry in the 12 months leading up to October of last year, at an average price just short of €250,000.

This was more than €100,000 less than the national average. Dublin has by far the highest average house prices at €526,910, but when the capital county is excluded, Kerry’s average prices remain €20,000 below the national average.

The 607 new address points added in Kerry during 2022 represents a jump of 26 per cent from the previous year.

Kerry’s 366 residential buildings under construction in December accounted for just 1.7 per cent of the 22,008 under construction nationally.

Almost one in five buildings being constructed were in Dublin, while half of the addresses added to the GeoDirectory database nationally last year were in Dublin and neighbouring counties Kildare, Meath, and Wicklow.

GeoDirectory CEO Dara Keogh said the national findings show supply remains well behind where it needs to be.

“The data shows that construction activity and supply of housing stock increased significantly in 2022, but it is still lagging well behind the current rate of demand,” he said.

“The number of residential buildings under construction and additions to the housing stock over the past 12 months would indicate that the sector has moved past the disruption brought about by COVID-19,” he added.