More than $700 million worth of industrial properties fell into trouble in February, upping the total outstanding distress to $6.8 billion by the end of March, according to Real Capital Analytics' latest figures. Workout activity of just $58 million did little to offset the second largest monthly increase this cycle in the inventory of distressed industrial properties.

But the sector is still faring considerably better than other asset classes-with office, retail, apartments and hotels posting distress figures between $25 billion and $33 billion. What's more, industrial accounts for only around 5% of outstanding CMBS balances. The sector's strength is due largely to a lack of hot money in the market during real estate's mid-2000s heyday and a willingness to work through troubled loans. But it's also left investors cooling their heels with few purchasing prospects.

Even February's jump in troubled assets is partially due to the addition of two $100-million portfolios to the distressed inventory-a 12-property pool in the Midwest, which is owned by the Mirvac Group and James Fielding Funds Management, and a second six-property, Kirkman Kennedy Edgewater-controlled bundle in Orlando and Memphis.