PARSIPPANY, NJ-The overall office market remained static for northern and central in the first quarter, even though the number of deals was up from last quarter and up sharply from last year, according to Colliers International.

The overall vacancy rate increased very slightly from last quarter to 20 to 20.4%, says Matthew Dolly, senior managing director of Colliers’ Parsippany branch, which produced the new report. The average asking rent was down slightly, to $22.56 per square foot.

“On the other hand, there were more deals done than in the previous five quarters. There were 20% more deals this quarter than in the fourth quarter of 2011, and 50% more than at the beginning of last year,” Dolly tells GlobeSt.com. “These are smaller deals getting done now.”

The height of the action in New Jersey during the first three months of this year was in transactions of 10,000-50,000 square feet, according to the Colliers’ report. Also, the report notes, more tenants are taking a very long time to commit, with some deals taking as long as five years to close.

“Our people who track the market closely in cities like Newark and Princeton say there are tenants in the market who were out there before the current president was elected,” says Dolly, who heads Colliers’ research and analytics group in New Jersey.

The larger deals that are being made are mostly for LEED-rated, energy-efficient space, whether it is new or upgraded, he adds.

Tenants that seek upgraded space are taking less of it – and less per employee, according to the data.

“It used to be that tenants taking a new lease would always look out for growth potential. Now, when a deal is being made, expansion is not even in the discussion in many cases,” Dolly says, “even if companies are hiring back or even adding jobs.”

The Colliers executive says the best brokers are still completing plenty of transactions. Experienced brokers do well in a down market,” Dolly says. “They know how to manage expectations on both sides of a deal. If the overall numbers aren’t changing much, there are still some companies benefiting.”

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