2042 Resorts Targeted for Buybacks

Median private resales pricing were flat to down in December across most resorts.  The one exception was Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge with an increase of $7 per point from $123 to $130 per point.  However, this specific increase was driven by Disney Vacation Development's buyback activity that captured low priced Boulder Ridge contracts.

13 (65%) of the 20 Boulder Ridge contracts recorded in December were buybacks with a maximum buyback price of $120 per point; the other 7 (35%) contracts were private resales.  The buyback contracts were also larger and therefore in total, 2.4k points (74%) were buybacks and 0.9k points (26%) were private resales.  December alone had more than double the buyback activity from the prior 11 months (1.2k points from January to November).

This skews private resale summary statistics by artificially inflating the perceived value of Boulder Ridge contracts.  All of the buybacks between $100 to $120 per point (11 of the 13 buybacks) were agreements between private buyers and sellers that would have driven down private resale summary statistics if they had been included. 

This has been happening across most resorts since roughly mid-2021, though in less dramatic fashion.  From January to August, the average monthly buyback volume was 27k points.  For the last 4 months (September to December) the average monthly buyback volume was 51k points.  This increase in buyback activity has drained away the otherwise cost effective contracts from the pool of private resales reported, again affecting private resale summary statistics.  The value buyers are willing to pay for specific sizes of contracts at each resort has not changed significantly since July 2021.  What has changed is that the larger, lower cost contracts are being absorbed from the private resale market via buybacks at a higher rate.

Resale prices for Disney’s Riviera Resort continue to fluctuate. Useful conclusions remain elusive with only 79 total contracts sold in 2021, five of those during the month of December.

In total, 51k points across 365 private sale deeds were recorded in December 2021 with the Orange County (FL) Comptroller, a decrease of 13% over the prior month. This number was lower than the 111k direct points sold for the same resorts.

Disney Vacation Development’s buyback activity in December suggests the maximum buyback price remained flat across most resorts.  Three resorts expiring in 2042 did see increases in maximum buyback price: Disney's BoardWalk Villas which increased by $36 per point from $103 to $139 per point, Boulder Ridge which increased by $16 per point from $104 per point to $120 per point, and Disney's Beach Club Villas which increased by $60 per point from $95 to $155 per point.

Buyback volume decreased overall by 10% to 49k points.  While below the 51k points of private resale activity for the month, it does remain a similar volume.  Disney Vacation Club has been pursuing buybacks directly with owners which likely contributed to this.  The biggest individual changes in buyback volume were the previously mentioned increase in volume at Boulder Ridge from 1.3k points to 2.1k points and a similar increase at Beach Club from 0.1k points to 1.4k points.  This increase in buyback activity coincides logically with the maximum buyback prices at these resorts.

A single 1,291 point fixed week deed at The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort was bought back.  The fixed week was for a Grand Villa during week 31 (check-in on 31 Jul 2022).  Thanks to Wil for finding this one.

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 $110 each at resorts like Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas and Disney's BoardWalk Villas. Disney then sells the points to new buyers, with published prices currently $186 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 (81% of recorded points) for a maximum price of $132 per point. Across all Walt Disney World resorts, 49% of points (49k points across 262 buyback deeds) were recorded in December 2021. 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 currently outpaces direct sales for at least three resorts: BoardWalk, Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort, and Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa as of December. In 2021, DVD reacquired 35k points at BoardWalk, 36k points at Bay Lake Tower, and 133k points at Saratoga Springs. Direct sales at those three resorts totaled 29k, 35.8k, and 129k points respectively from January to December 2021.

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