DVC Right of First Refusal Report (ROFR): July ’22

DVC Exercises Right of First Refusal (ROFR)

Year-to-date (YTD), Disney has exercised their right of first refusal (ROFR) on 780 Disney Vacation Club (DVC) contracts, and DVC Resale Market (DVCRM) has sold 3,055, resulting in a 25.5% buyback rate (Contracts Bought Back in 2022/Contracts Sold in 2022). The 2022 waiver rate is 74.5%.

Key ROFR Updates

Trying to determine what Disney Vacation Club is up to with all their buybacks these days reminds me of Charlie cracking the case of Pepe Silvia from ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’.

Conspiracies abound on DISboards and within Facebook Groups with no clear answer in sight. So before we dive deeper down the rabbit hole, let’s take a quick look at several facts from this past month:

• July 2022 saw Disney elect to exercise their right of first refusal (ROFR) on 133 additional contracts.
• Buybacks in July were exclusive to four key resorts:  Saratoga Springs, Animal Kingdom, Bay Lake Tower, Old Key West, and Copper Creek.  These resorts account for over 83% of all buybacks in 2022.
• Copper Creek eclipsed its highest buyback price per point in July, increasing to $173.

For buyers looking for ways to steer clear of the ROFR monster, we recently compiled a list of several strategic tips that will hopefully help you avoid right of first refusal!

Now I promised a few conspiracies, so here are my top three guesses as to what might be driving some of Disney’s recent buyback efforts, with no real factual basis behind any of them:

1. There have been talks for years of a Bay Lake Tower DVC expansion, but with its recent increase in ROFR activity and the trend of adding to existing properties like the Polynesian, could the BLT2 expansion be right around the corner?
2. With pent-up demand for Walt Disney World still high as we continue to emerge from the pandemic, Disney may be realizing that owning a bit more of each resort to “rent” or sell as cash reservations may be a worthwhile endeavor.
3. DVC is pooling a percentage of ownership from each resort into a “flex-resort” purchase option that allows for the opportunity to have premium 7-11 month booking access at multiple properties. (Yes, I know this is probably not allowed for legal reasons, but its a conspiracy)

What is Right of First Refusal (ROFR)?

For those new to the concept, Right of First Refusal is the option Disney Vacation Club has to purchase any resale contract after a sales price has been agreed upon, and the contract has been executed. Each contract must be forwarded to DVC for review.

DVC typically takes no more than 30 days to review the contract. At their discretion, Disney may step in and purchase the property themselves at the terms agreed upon by the seller and original buyer. DVC then becomes the buyer, and the purchase is complete. Once DVC is the buyer there is not an opportunity to come back with a better offer in hopes of still purchasing the contract.

Highest Monthly Buy Back Numbers by DVC Resort

Highest Buyback Price Per Point by Resort from July 2021 to July 2022:

Disney Vacation Club Resort Resale Contracts Bought Back in 2022

The graph below shows the total amount of buybacks at each DVC resort for contracts sold by DVC Resale Market in 2022:

Buy Back Rates for Disney Vacation Club Resorts in 2022

The table below shows the percentage of buybacks for all 9 different resorts that have had at least one contract bought back in 2022. Note, there have been no buybacks of the following resorts in 2022 thus far: Aulani, Grand Californian, Riviera Resort, Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Hilton Head.

Access all DVC resale listings and learn more about buying and selling with DVC Resale Market.