Level of empty units remains high in Athlone

Commercial vacancy rates in Athlone continue to remain at significant levels.

That’s according to the new GeoDirectory Commercial Vacancy Rates Report, released this week, which found the commercial vacancy rate in the town was 18% in June, which sees the town with the tenth highest amongst the 35 main towns in Leinster surveyed.

However, there was a positive trend reported with the commercial vacancy rate in Athlone having fallen by 0.8 percentage points from June 2025, when it was recorded as 18.8%.

Athlone has the highest vacancy rate among the three towns in Westmeath surveyed in June 2026, with levels above those in Moate (17.1%) and Mullingar (12.7%).

Across the entire county, the commercial vacancy rate in Westmeath was recorded at 12.0% significantly lower than the national average of 14.5% and the third lowest among the 26 counties surveyed.

In contrast, the commercial vacancy rate in Roscommon at 17.7% was well above the national average, with the county’s recording the sixth highest nationwide.

Of the urban areas in Roscommon surveyed, Boyle had the highest rate of commercial vacancies (30.1%), while Roscommon Town had the lowest at 19.5%.

Nationally, the commercial vacancy rate dropped marginally by 0.1 percentage points (pp) year-on-year to 14.5% in Q2 2026. This is the first time the commercial vacancy rate has experienced an annual decline since GeoDirectory began reporting this data in 2013.

A total of 30,611 commercial properties were classified as vacant across the country in Q2 2026. The highest commercial vacancy rates were concentrated in the West and North-West of the country.

Donegal recorded the highest vacancy rate in the State at 20.7%, meaning more than one in five commercial properties in the county lie vacant. Sligo (20.2%), Galway (18.6%), Leitrim and Limerick (both 18.1%) made up the remainder of the top five highest county vacancy rates, with all five Connacht counties featuring in the top seven nationwide.

At the other end of the spectrum, Meath recorded the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the country at 9.9%, the only county under the 10% mark, ahead of Wexford and Westmeath.

In terms of urban areas, Shannon, Co. Clare reported the highest commercial vacancy rate at 34.9%. Ballybofey, Co. Donegal was next with a vacancy rate of 34.5%, followed by Boyle and Edenderry (30.1% and 27.1%). Greystones in Wicklow recorded the lowest rate of vacancies at 7.1%.