But many Wall Street analysts - already questioning GE Capital’s valuations of its real estate and other holdings - are watching GE’s comments with a skeptical eye.

GE could be overestimating the value of some of it real estate portfolio, said BernsteinResearch’s Winoker. Winoker calculates that the company’s real estate equity is worth about $20 billion, rather than the $32.7 billion GE estimated at the end of 2008. If that were true, that would represent an overestimate of more than 60%.

GE Capital has vast real estate holdings in the United States and around the globe, making it an important cog in GE’s operating results.  Overall, GE Capital accounted for about 47%, or $8.6 billion, of GE’s total profits of $18.1 billion last year. The company projects the unit will earn $5 billion this year.

GE has stakes in 8,000 properties in 2,600 cities worldwide, including office buildings, warehouses and apartments. About 71% of those properties are located outside the United States.

In Europe, GE has $22 billion worth of real estate assets. About one-third of that was real estate debt and non-performing loans at the end of the second quarter of last year, according to its Web site.

“They spent a huge amount of money in real estate,” James S. Corl, who oversees distressed real estate investments at Siguler Guff & Co., told Bloomberg. “They paid a full price for what ends up being a lot of mediocre real estate.”

Profit at GE Real Estate dropped by $1.1 billion, according to GE’s annual report.  GE’s real estate profits probably have further to fall, as occupancies and rents continue to drop.

“Did we end up with too much exposure in certain areas during the credit bubble? Maybe, a few,” said GE Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Immelt in his annual letter to shareholders, released March 2. “Today, I wish we had less exposure to commercial real estate and U.K.