Disney Vacation Club Raising the ROFR Bar?

In the last three months the DVC Resale Market, Inc. has seen an increasing number of Disney buybacks through their Right of First Refusal on Old Key West, Boardwalk and Saratoga Springs contracts.  Right of First Refusal is the option Disney Vacation Club has to purchase any resale package after a sales price has been agreed upon and a contract has been executed. It is also important to note that while the DVC Resale Market, Inc. only had one Animal Kingdom contract bought back over the past three months it was at $84/pt.  Moreover, the buyback prices for Old Key West have been as high as $74/pt., for Saratoga Springs as high as $80/pt. and for Boardwalk as high as $90/pt.  This is a significant increase as those buyback prices are higher than those respected resorts average listing prices were just four months ago. For a comparison please see the chart below:

*Avg. listing price for August ’15 based on only 3 Boardwalk Contracts Listed

The effects of this buyback increase can be seen in the chart above as the average listing price for these resorts have all risen this past summer.  That being said the price disparity between Disney Vacation Club points direct and resale is still significant, however, with buyback prices rising the gap between direct and resale gets tighter.  This could be perceived as a very strategic move by Disney Vacation Club to get the resale prices high enough to where even the most informed buyers may have some decisions to make when it comes to buying DVC direct or DVC through resale.  Or, perhaps Disney just needed the inventory at those resorts to satisfy waitlist demand.  Regardless of Disney’s intentions the results have caused a rise in the resale prices for all four DVC resorts.