SADDLE BROOK, NJ-As the song says, it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish--and New Jersey’s office market ended 2010 on a high note, with increased leasing velocity, renewals and absorption, according to CB Richard Ellis’ Fourth Quarter 2010 New Jersey MarketView report.

Leasing velocity in the fourth quarter rose 27.5% over the same period in 2009, the report says. Renewal activity in the quarter reached a record high of 4.6 million square feet, and absorption rates were positive for the third consecutive quarter, with a year-end positive number of 49,125 square feet. That rate has not been seen in New Jersey since 2007, CBRE reports. Asking rents remain relatively stable, increasing by 10 cents per square foot at the end of the fourth quarter. However, they remain $1.02 below the five-year annual average. The availability rate remains steady at 21.6%.

“The improved market fundamentals during the fourth quarter of 2010 indicate that the office market is reversing the trend of the past two years and starting to show movement toward equilibrium where owners and tenants will be on more of an equal footing in terms of leveraging market conditions,” says Jeff Hipschman, senior managing director at CBRE and head of its New Jersey operations. “Our latest market report indicates an impressive uptick in leasing and renewal activity, as well as an increase in user-buyer sales, all resulting in positive year-end absorption for the first time since 2007.”