Santa Ana-based real estate brokerage and investor Grubb & Ellis Co. reported a smaller third-quarter loss Wednesday as the company cut costs and saw fewer write-downs in the value of real estate.

The company reported a net loss of $21.4 million, versus a loss of $56.3 million a year earlier.

There was no consensus estimate from Wall Street analysts.

Grubb & Ellis saw a big drop in general administrative expenses, which fell 36% from a year earlier to $25.5 million.

Write-downs on real estate to reflect lower values went from $35 million a year ago to $2.4 million.

Revenue fell 11% to $136.1 million.

Real estate brokerage and consulting revenue was down 19% to $46.3 million but rose 6% from the second quarter.

“We saw an increase in transaction volume over the second quarter, an indication that the investments we have made to attract top-tier talent are paying off,” said Richard W. Pehlke, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “The market—albeit still difficult—showed signs of improvement versus the first half of the year.”

Grubb & Ellis is working through the worst real estate downturn in recent memory.

In October, the company reached a $90 million deal with institutional investors that led it to pay off a potentially crippling debt earlier this month.

The preferred stock deal allowed Grubb & Ellis to pay off two credit lines that were due to be paid by the end of this month.

Grubb is selling 900,000 shares of 12% convertible preferred stock to the institutional investors.

The company hasn’t named the investors. One is believed to be Fidelity Investments parent FMR LLC of Boston.