Cork Adds Addresses, but Thousands of Homes Remain Vacant Still

Cork has around 3.6% of homes vacant, a little less than the country as a whole. Thousands of homes in Cork are still empty, while Ireland has over two million homes in total, with about 80,689 of them vacant.

Cork has roughly 249,000 homes and around 9,000 homes in Cork were found to be empty. This data, revealing a vacancy rate slightly better than the nation’s, comes from GeoDirectory and looks at the end of last year.

Nationally, the vacancy rate was 3.8%, whereas Leitrim had the highest rate at 11.8% and Dublin the lowest at just 1.2%. An Post helps run GeoDirectory, which looked at data for all Irish homes.

GeoDirectory found 20,092 properties to be derelict. Cork’s dereliction rate is about 6.4%, which translates to almost 1,300 Cork properties.

Over 3,700 new Cork addresses were added last year, including new student housing. However, just over 3,000 homes were still under construction in December.

GeoDirectory’s CEO, Dara Keogh, noted a rise in new addresses and stated construction seems steady. This suggests more new homes are likely coming in 2025.

Prices went up everywhere in the country, with over 5,000 properties sold in Cork last year. The average Cork home cost €363,419 between late 2023 and late 2024.

One popular area to buy was Cork’s T12 postcode, with about 1,350 homes sold there last year. Only Limerick’s V94 postcode had more sales, as 1,457 homes changed hands.

Rent is high for new tenants, averaging €2,077. In Cork City, rent is higher than mortgage payments, costing €403 more each month.

A high income is needed to buy in Cork City: €87,464, while the average household there makes just €52,791. Cork county has a similar problem where the needed income is €84,725 for people who average €67,102.

First-time buyers took out many mortgages in 2024, exceeding 26,000 mortgages total. Almost 10,000 were specifically for new homes while the rest of others were for older, second-hand homes.

Annette Hughes, who works at EY, said the report is encouraging as vacancy and dereliction rates are dropping. She says that population growth and policy changes are helping to reduce these numbers.

She also mentioned that new addresses are up, but that smart policies are still key and need proper housing support and infrastructure. This will help to create housing for everyone.