Galway's commercial vacancy rate increases to 17 percent

From Galway Bay FM newsroom- Galway's commercial vacancy rate rose slightly in the fourth quarter of last year - and now stands at 17 percent.

New figures from GeoDirectory show nationally, there are now close to 30 thousand commercial units lying empty.

Of the towns surveyed in Galway, Tuam had the highest vacancy rate at almost 23 percent, while Loughrea had the lowest at less than 16 percent.

Ballybofey in Co. Donegal was the town with the highest commercial vacancy rate in the country at 30 per cent.

CEO of GeoDirectory Dara Keogh said its possible the overall trend will continue in the retail sector.