The Greater Boston inventory of commercial industrial real estate has begun to reflect improving optimism seen in the underpinning economy, according to a new report.

When including flex, manufacturing and warehouse property types, the 105 million square feet of combined inventory has seen two consecutive quarters of positive absorption, following a six-quarter trend of negative absorption, according to Boston-based commercial real estate advisory firm Richards Barry Joyce & Partners’ quarterly publication "indSTATus – Fall 2010."

Asking lease rates for the quarter were stable and are expected to remain so, given the total amount of vacant space across the market.

"Two quarters certainly don’t make a long-term trend, by any means," said Brendan Carroll, senior vice president of research, RBJ&P. "However, we are pleased to see the six-quarter trend of negative absorption come to more than just a one-quarter end. This corrective trend, however slight, also reflects a more optimistic set of fundamentals seen in the overall economy."

The report found vacancy was up slightly in the warehouse market, edging up to 17.5 percent. Asking lease rates dropped 3-cents to $5.49. Meanwhile, vacancy dropped by 0.6 percent in the flex market to 18.2 percent. Asking lease rates closed the quarter down 30-cents to $7.81.

Vacancy dropped most in the manufacturing market, decreasing 1.4 percent to 15.7 percent. Asking lease rates increased by 13-cents to $6.58.

"An empty construction pipeline bodes well for industrial landlords, which are beginning to see positive net demand marketwide, though lease rate increases could lag for many availabilities," the report read. "As always, the best facilities in the best locations have been, and will continue to be, the drivers of net demand and lease rate increases."