New Jersey Industrial Market Experiences Record-Setting Year in 2016

On Jan 27, 2017

With 10.6 million square feet of positive net absorption – the highest total for any year since 1998 – and a record-setting year-over-year increase in average asking rents, New Jersey’s industrial market experienced one of the most active years in its history in 2016, according to Transwestern’s Fourth-Quarter 2016 Industrial Market Report.

Average asking rents peaked for the fourth consecutive quarter at $6.73 per square foot and increased in 24 of the 25 industrial submarkets when compared year-over-year. Meanwhile, the state experienced its 15th consecutive quarter of positive net absorption – its longest stretch ever. Additionally, the overall vacancy rate declined to 5.5 percent, which is the lowest it’s been since the fourth quarter of 2000.

“Industrial tenants are flocking to New Jersey as a shift in trade volume to the East Coast is increasing the demand for an already constrained supply,” said Transwestern Managing Director Alex Previdi. “Double-digit rents are becoming more common in New Jersey, allowing landlords to continue to recover losses from the most recent recession.”

While e-commerce companies such as Amazon, which inked New Jersey’s largest fourth-quarter deal, remain the primary drivers of leasing activity, new construction is at its highest level since 2000 and is expanding into secondary markets that typically cater to smaller distribution centers and manufacturing and storage facilities.

“Activity is especially pronounced in central New Jersey, which accounted for 60 percent of the annual absorption and the market’s top five fourth-quarter leases,” said Transwestern’s New Jersey Research Director Matthew Dolly. “Also, while it’s not discussed nearly as much as the Turnpike corridor, New Jersey’s Interstate 287 corridor has proven to be critical to the health of the state’s industrial market.”

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