Brokerage firms have prospered along with commercial-real-estate markets in the past few years, reaping record profits, thje Wall Street Journal reports.

But over five weeks, shares of the biggest firm, CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., have plunged 30% as the credit mess leads investors to predict a severe slowdown in property sales and worry that an economic slowdown could hurt leasing. Yet, some analysts and investors believe that the selloff went too far.

CBRE isn’t the only commercial-real-estate services firm being hit. Shares of Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. were down 13% at the same time while those of the much smaller and more thinly traded Chicago firm Grubb & Ellis Co. are down 34%.

With the turmoil in debt markets turning into panic in recent weeks, the markets for high-yield commercial-real-estate debt have seized up, making it more difficult to finance buildings. Banks have dialed back their lending, concerned about the hefty amount of real-estate loans they may have to hold on their books due to the pullback among debt buyers.

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