SADDLE BROOK, NJ–New Jersey's industrial real estate market made significant headway in 2014 overall, despite a moderate finish in the fourth quarter, according to CBRE's Q4 2014 New Jersey Industrial MarketView Report. Leasing velocity amounted to 3.43 million square feet – less robust than in previous quarters.

“The fact that net absorption maintains positive momentum is a sign to me that, although there is a good amount of construction, it is controlled construction, so it is not impacting us as it has in the past, with developers saying that the market's getting better and then everybody starting to build at the same time,” Mindy Lissner, executive vice president at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com exclusively. “Whoever has sites and is ready to build, they've been watching each other and watching the market and trying to be smart about when to put shovels in the ground.”

2014's net absorption totaled a positive 8.2 million sq. ft. – a 371 percent increase over 2013, despite registering a negative 1.12 million sq. ft. of absorption in the fourth quarter. Availability for Q4 2014 increased 10 basis points, up from the third quarter to 9.2 percent. This proliferation can be largely attributed to the new speculative projects coming to the market.