Part of the

I’m a Libra, so I really understand taking time to make decisions (We’re the sign of scales and weigh everything ad nauseam.) In business, however, indecision is an economy-killer. So it’s great to read in CBRE’s New Jersey's Fourth Quarter 2011 New Jersey Industrial MarketView Report that the state experienced its fifth consecutive quarter of positive market performance, largely because tenants are finally making a commitment.

"The current real estate environment has helped coax industrial tenants who had been sitting on the fence to finally realize that the time was right to capitalize on opportunities which resulted in a revival of activity in 2011 as well as brought about drastically diminished availability and a bold return of market fundamentals," said William Waxman, CBRE executive vice president, in a press release.

The most recent quarter saw absorption of 3.6 million square feet, the largest such volume in 10 years and beating historical records. For 2011, Northern New Jersey sites absorbed 850,000 square feet, while Central New Jersey, home to those mega-sized complexes, absorbed 9.71 million square feet.

What’s more, the annual velocity of 25.8 million square feet was the highest volume in seven years, and a 34.8% increase from 2010, the report says. Rents are still depressed, dropping 3 cents per square foot from the previous quarter, but CBRE predicts a pickup as Class A space is filled up. Sales activity also rose for the quarter and the year, with 2011 volume up 37% over 2010, and more than double that of 2009. So it seems the recovery is a reality, and looking to continue.

Views expressed are solely by the author and not Mack-Cali or its employees.