It was an especially good week last week on Wall Street for global real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.

The Los Angeles-based company saw a surge in its stock price that exceeded the general market run-up following news that it was embarking on an expansion of its share repurchase program. The company announced Nov. 28 it was upping buy-backs to $635 million from $500 million.

The stock, which opened the week at $19.72, was up 18 percent by market close on Nov. 29 to $23.26. That price was still off, however, from a 52-week high of $42.74, which shares hit in July, before the subprime meltdown and credit crunch began chipping away at the value of real estate services firms.

In fact, the stock has lost so much value that seven analysts who cover the company rate it a buy while only two rate it a hold, according to Bloomberg News. But for analysts who aren’t recommending investors load up on shares, the ongoing credit crunch is yet a cause for concern.

“Major commercial banks that have historically provided liquidity for REITs and commercial real estate have scaled back given write-downs from subprime exposure, which is adversely impacting capital availability,” wrote Jonathan Habermann, an analyst for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. who downgraded CB Richard Ellis slightly to “neutral/cautious” from “neutral/neutral” on Oct. 31.

A CB Richard Ellis spokesman declined to comment. Ultimately, the fate of CB Richard Ellis and other similar companies is likely to be closely tied to the national economic slowdown.

Habermann said that real estate companies in sectors such as storage and hospitality that rely on short-term leases will be hit hard by a slowdown. On the other hand, CB Richard Ellis and other companies in the retail and office sectors with longer-term leases “should be better protected in the event of a downturn as these leases do not turnover as frequently in a given period, and therefore could provide better preservation of cash flow.”