PARSIPPANY, NJ-The office market in New Jersey is picking up, with leasing activity rising in 2010 over 2009 levels, says a just-released report by Jones Lang LaSalle. But it’s not completely back yet, as the deals failed to exceed new vacancy, and the focus remains squarely on class A space.

Leasing velocity totaled more than 9.1 million square feet, up 8.3% over 2009. Large deals also increased, JLL says, with 18 transactions greater than 100,000 completed last year, the most since 2006. “While a number of large spaces were added to the marketplace during the fourth quarter, health services, financial services and pharmaceutical firms each leased more than 220,000 square feet, helping to offset these dispositions,” notes Dan Loughlin, managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle. “We believe the uptick in leasing velocity in the fourth quarter and 2010 overall points to a recovery beginning in the New Jersey office market and is also evidenced by stabilizing asking rents in class A space and overall.”

Most of the transactions were completed in class A buildings in office submarkets in Hudson, Morris, Somerset and Mercer counties. Asking rents within class A properties rose in recent months due to the addition of higher-priced, quality space to the market, while class B space saw asking stabilize. Overall, average asking rents rose in the fourth quarter from $23.85 per square foot to $23.89 per square foot.