Call it the Comeback County

NEWPORT BEACH, CA-What a difference a few years make. At December 2008’s RealShare Orange County conference, keynote speaker Christopher Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics, called the market conditions “vindication” for his typically bearish views. At the time, the public had moved from a state of denial about the economy to worry, if not fear, and the tone of the conference reflected that recessionary concern. In 2009, conference panelists, like Bill Halford, president and CEO of Bixby Land Co., predicted “cleansing” ahead, but said that the bottom was near.

This year, the message was decidedly different at RealShare Orange County 2011, presented by ALM’s real estate media group, publisher of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com, at the Balboa Bay Club on Thursday. The event drew a record of more than 500 attendees, and the overall outlook this year was considerably more positive than in years past.