March 2022 Resale Prices Flat, Buyback Interest at 2042 Resorts Remains Strong

Median prices represent the midpoint of all transfer values for each resort and period in question. Transactions occurred at rates both higher and lower than the median, as illustrated in the chart below.

Median private resale prices were flat to up in March across most resorts.  Prices vary month to month due to a variety of factors including contract size.  

The two largest increases were both +$4 at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas.  However, both resorts saw maximum buyback price increases of +$8 and +$9 respectively.  The value buyers ascribe to contracts at these resorts does not appear to have changed significantly.  Disney Vacation Development is buying back at a higher price which means many of the lower priced sales that would have been recorded as resale purchases now appear as buybacks.  Removing these data points from the resale pool artificially inflates the resale summary metrics.  This has been affecting pricing reports since mid-2021. 

Resale prices for Disney’s Riviera Resort continue to fluctuate. Useful conclusions remain elusive with only 79 total contracts sold in 2021 and 33 in 2022.  The long range resale value of Riviera is unlikely to be settled anytime in the near future.

In total, 63k points across 483 private sale deeds were recorded in March 2022 with the Orange County (FL) Comptroller, an increase of 21% over the prior month. This number was lower than the 241k direct points sold for the same resorts.

Disney Vacation Development’s buyback activity in December suggests the maximum buyback price increased across most resorts.  The two exceptions were Disney's Old Key West Resort and Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge which all saw decreases in their maximum buyback price coincident with slightly reduced buyback volumes.

Buyback volume decreased overall by 7% to 50k points.  The biggest individual changes in buyback volume were a 64% decrease to 1.5k points at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, a 24% increase to 7.9k points at Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, and an 18% increase to 5.8k points at Animal Kingdom.

Exercising its Right of First Refusal to buy back points can be a profitable venture for DVD. As the above price range data illustrates, DVD is frequently able to reacquire points for under $120 each at resorts like Animal Kingdom and BoardWalk. Disney then sells the points to new buyers, with published prices currently $200 each for Animal Kingdom and up to $230 for BoardWalk.

Old Key West remains a target of buybacks with DVD exercising its Right of First Refusal on a significant portion of recorded sales (76% of recorded points) for a maximum price of $125 per point.  The other 2042 resorts saw 42% to 71% of their recorded volume as buybacks.  Across all Walt Disney World resorts, 44% of points (50k points across 271 buyback deeds) were recorded in March 2022. In the case of Old Key West, Disney is able to re-acquire contracts slated to end in 2042 and bundle them with the resort’s 15-year extension.

The price range data at the top also includes listing prices (green). Listing prices generally outpace prior sales but ultimately buyer interest will dictate market value.

Disney Vacation Development’s buyback activity outpaced direct sales for five resorts in March 2022: Old Key West, BoardWalk, Boulder Ridge, Disney's Beach Club Villas, and Saratoga Springs. In the first three months of 2022, DVD reacquired 33k points at Old Key West, 19k points at BoardWalk, 8.9k points at Boulder Ridge, 14k points at Beach Club, and 44k points at Saratoga Springs. Direct sales at those five resorts totaled 15k, 7.7k, 1.9k, 4.2k, and 19k points respectively through March 2022.

At dvc.market, there are resources including additional market data, pricing regression analysis, and a DVC listing search engine--featuring 13 brokers who specialize in Disney Vacation Club timeshare ownership transfers.

Chris Dantès is a contributor to DVCNews.com and has been a Disney Vacation Club owner since 2020 at Disney's Riviera Resort. You can find Chris posting on many Disney forums under the username i<3riviera