SADDLE BROOK, NJ—The New Jersey office market's pace of improvement accelerated through the end of the year, building on the year's strong and positive momentum, according to CBRE's Q4 2014 New Jersey Office MarketView Report,. In the fourth quarter, leasing velocity surpassed Q3 by 7.9 percent, while net absorption reached its highest quarterly figure in 2014 and rental rates closed 3.4 percent higher than year-end 2013.

Among the most significant transactions in the fourth quarter, Rutgers University purchased 33 Knightsbridge Road in the Route 287/Piscataway/Brunswick submarket, Prudential Financial renewed and expanded into 333,545 square feet in Newark, and PricewaterhouseCoopers renewed 182,963 square feet at 400 Campus Drive in Morristown.

In addition to New Jersey's typically active financial services, insurance and pharmaceutical sectors, educational organizations made a substantial showing towards the end of 2014. Key drivers in the education sector, all of which helped support New Jersey's office market recovery, included the expansion of Rutgers University, the expansion of New Jersey City University, as well as the organization of a startup private medical school through a partnership between the Hackensack University Health Network and Seton Hall University.