Only four counties have a lower rate of residential occupancy than Clare.
A new report compiled by GeoDirectory has found that over 10% of the county’s housing stock isn’t permanently occupied – with these properties either vacant or in use as holiday homes.
GeoDirectory’s latest Residential Buildings Report reveals 519 new residential address points were created in Clare in the twelve months to June.
This is up by over 30% on last year and the figure accounts for just under 1% of the county’s total housing stock.
Construction was commenced on 908 properties in Clare in the year to May which was the 11th lowest number nationwide.
Across the same period, 957 property transactions were completed here – more than 8% of which were new dwellings – and the average price paid was €262,069.
Of the 20,413 residential buildings classed as derelict in Ireland, 5% are located in Clare.
The residential vacancy rate here meanwhile is now 5.5% which is above the national average of 3.9%.
6.3% of dwellings in the county are classed as holiday homes which is the third highest percentage after Donegal and Wexford.
As a result, just 88.2% of Clare’s housing stock is occupied meaning Clare has the fifth-lowest occupancy rate in the country behind Donegal, Leitrim and Kerry.
