May 2011 DVC sales analysis

For the DVC resorts for which point sales can be tracked, a total of 201,056 points were sold directly by Disney Vacation Club, representing a drop of 15.6% compared to the previous month.  The drop in point sales was due to reduced sales at Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas and Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort.

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The sales data includes all seven DVC resorts at Walt Disney World, as well as Disney’s Vero Beach Resort and Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort.  Point sales data is not available for the Villas at Disney’s Grand California Hotel or for Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa.  The data is compiled from deeds filed by Disney Vacation Development (DVD) and recorded with the Orange County (FL) Comptroller, the Indian River County (FL) Clerk of Court, and the Beaufort County (SC) Register of Deeds.

Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort - Direct point sales at BLT dropped to 106,120 points in May 2011, about 21.6% less than the previous month.  It was the second lowest month in sales for BLT in the last year.

As of May 31, 2011, 86.13% of BLT’s estimated 5.7 million points have been sold.  This percentage reflects 33,332 points that have been reacquired by DVD through foreclosures, exercising rights of first refusal on resale transactions, and other types of buybacks.

In June, BLT's base price has increased to $140 a point, although several incentives are available that reduce the actual purchase price to less than $140 a point.  Despite this increase in price, it is anticipated that BLT will sale out later this Summer.  As of May 31, 2011, there were only 680,759 points left for DVD to sell before it reaches the 98.0% level, the maximum percentage of points that can be sold at a DVC resort.

On June 8, 2011, DVD declared more BLT villas for the DVC inventory, bringing the total declared to date to 98.97% of the resort.  This means that  Members can book up to 98.97% of the resort using points on any given Use Day.  All that is left at BLT to declare for the DVC inventory are three two-bedroom villas that are currently be used as a DVC sales center and models.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas - Sales at AKV have once again slowed down.  After averaging about 46,000 points a month in direct sales for the prior four months, AKV registered only 19,348 points in sales in May 2011.  Since sales for Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa continue to be strong, AKV's sales may be suffering due to SSR's lower price per point.

DVD has declared 70.34% of AKV for the DVC inventory and has sold less than 62% of its points.  Just like BLT, DVD has reacquired thousands of AKV points from DVC members due to foreclosures, exercising rights of first refusal on resale transactions, and other buybacks.  However, the actual number of reacquired points have not been tracked for AKV, so that actual percentage of points sold at AKV is probably around 59 to 60%.  

The last declaration of Animal Kingdom Villas for the DVC inventory was made on February 23, 2011.  As of May 31, 2011, AKV still had over 570,000 points that have been declared but unsold.  Given the current rate of sales, there is little need for DVD to declare more AKV Units for the DVC inventory at this time.

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa - In May 2011, DVD sold 63,324 points for SSR.  With its current base price of $99 a point, SSR is cheaper than the other three DVC resorts that are actively being marketed at this time.  Thus, it is not surprising that SSR outsold AKV by more than a three-to-one margin during the month.

As of May 31, 2011, DVD has sold about 65% of the 452,625 points that were added to the DVC inventory when half of the 60 TreeHouse Villas were declared in January 2009.  DVD has used 14 of the 15 declared THV units to support sales at SSR, leaving it with only one declared but unused Unit at SSR.  It is possible that DVD will declare the other half of the THVs for the DVC inventory before the end of the summer.