The volume of commercial real estate assets with outstanding distress grew in June, but it was the smallest monthly increase since late 2008, according to the research firm Real Capital Analytics.

While the slow-down in the growth rate can be attributed in part to the lack of large portfolios to fall into trouble during the month, the analysts at Real Capital say they are also seeing a marked increase in workout activity by lenders, which in turn has helped to mitigate distress volumes, and they contend the pickup “bolsters the case for cautious optimism.”

“These two trends may point to the increasing availability of debt and equity capital to help distressed situations get resolved, restructured, or avoided altogether,” Real Capital said in its latest market report.

The value of loans on properties falling into distress – meaning delinquency, default, or bankruptcy – totaled

$6.3 billion in June, the smallest one-month increase since October 2008, according to Real Capital’s analysis.

At the same time, June saw an abundance of workout activity. Together, resolutions – which Real Capital defines as properties that have moved out of distress via refinancing or through a sale to a financially stable third party – and debt restructurings totaled $5.5 billion during the month.

Real Capital reports that total workout activity for troubled commercial real estate loans during the first half of this year reached $29.2 billion. First half restructuring activity of $15.2 billion is 205 percent higher than for the same period a year earlier. The company’s data shows that resolutions have posted even larger gains, increasing by 272 percent during the first six months of 2010.

Real Capital says even more than the volume measure, the increase in workout activity is evident when considered in terms of property counts. The 146 troubled assets that were resolved in June represent the highest figure of 2010 and the second highest of the cycle.

With slower growth in distress and the coincident increase in workout activity, Real Capital’s study shows that the balance of trouble outstanding has increased by just 15 percent during the first half of this year, down sharply from a 167 percent increase in the first half of 2009.

Similarly, the company reports that lenders’ commercial REO has increased by 30 percent during the 2010 January to June timeframe, down from an increase of 95 percent in the same period last year.