"Compared to one year ago, the state's vacancy rate across all classes has improved steadily, and year-to-date net absorption now totals over 1 million square feet," Price says. "This is well ahead of last year's annual total."

Large lease transactions helped fuel growth in the third quarter. Five leases greater than 50,000 square feet—including two of more than 200,000 square feet—were signed in the third quarter. Everest RE Group announced its relocation to more than 313,000 square feet at Warren Corporate Center in Warren Township, while CIT Group will move from Livingston to 200,000 square feet at 340 Mount Kemble Ave. in Morristown.

Those two transactions accounted for 24.8% of the state's third-quarter new deal volume. Another notable deal was Samsun's decision to remain at its current location in Ridgefield Park, agreeing to a 235,000-square-foot renewal on Challenger Road.

"This marked the first time in three years that multiple new transactions of 200,000-plus square feet were inked in the same quarter," notes Cushman & Wakefield's Andrew Judd, New Jersey market leader.

He adds that while those deals were significant, it is the "steady churn" of small lease transactions that have kept brokers busy so far in 2019.

Since the start of 2019, users leasing less than 10,000 square feet have represented 34.5% of tenant demand across all asset classes, Judd says.

During the third quarter, a handful of market segments experienced notably robust activity. The I-78 Corridor, Parsippany, Morristown, Bergen County, and Princeton/Route 1 all saw at least 200,000 square feet of leasing. Conversely, demand was tempered in some market segments as the Hudson Waterfront and Woodbridge/Edison experienced a slight lull, according to the Cushman & Wakefield report.

New Jersey's overall average asking rental rate continued to trend higher during the third quarter. The current $29.68-per-square-foot average, which represents a 1.4% year-over-year increase, has been driven largely by an increase in Class A asking rents. Quarter-over-quarter, Northern New Jersey Class A rates climbed $0.05-per-square-foot to $36.28-per-square-foot, while Central New Jersey posted a $0.02-per-square-foot decline to end the third quarter at $29.30-per-square-foot.

Looking ahead, Judd notes that the trend of upgraded, amenitized office buildings achieving higher occupancies and stronger demand will continue as companies attempt to retain and lure new employees in the current strong job market.

"This, combined with the expected positive state economic trending, is keeping landlords of Class A assets bullish—we may see them further raise asking rents in some cases," Judd says.

For the remainder of 2019, Cushman & Wakefield states in the report that it anticipates occupancy to remain steady, with no substantial vacancies projected to come online until early 2020.