Average DVC Contract Size Getting Smaller

[rich dream vacations]

Using the ROFR report from 2013-2020 it like the data at each DVC resort is consistent. In general the average sales price per point is going up but the average contract point contracts are going down. If this trend continues it appears to be a good trend for owner of small contracts that may need to resell down the road but it will also increase an already tight demand for studios.

 

[sethschroeder]

What is "smaller" though. Most people if they want a week still need around 100-150 points for a studio.

I would also be interested in how many people are buying a 25-50 point contract as their first vs 2nd contract.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Using the ROFR report from 2013-2020 it like the data at each DVC resort is consistent. In general the average sales price per point is going up but the average contract point contracts are going down. If this trend continues it appears to be a good trend for owner of small contracts that may need to resell down the road but it will also increase an already tight demand for studios.

Yes. A little over 10 years ago the minimum for a new owner was 160. Then it went to 100. Then 50 points started being allowed. When OKW first opened the minimum was over 200 points.

And those 50 point owners are probably not buying to stay in 1BR's or 2BR's even if they planned on banking and borrowing. Over that time the studio availability has tightened up a lot.

 

[CraigInPA]

You're also seeing a base of established owners buying small contracts in recently opened resorts. Over time, there are more existing owners, so there are more small contracts in resorts that open after they originally purchased.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I wonder how many are upset that they cannot borrow all of their next year points to make their new reservation? When you only have 50-100 points, you sometimes need to borrow.

 

[TCRAIG]

I wonder how many are upset that they cannot borrow all of their next year points to make their new reservation? When you only have 50-100 points, you sometimes need to borrow.

I have over 1000 points and always seem to borrow! But I’ve had enough cancellations this spring that I’m good for 2021...
FYI - my largest contract is still my first - 160 at SS -

 

[Lorana]

Our largest contract is 168 (resale), but we have 5 total contracts (1 direct, 4 resale), because we've added on small contracts as we've had money to pay cash and saw a good deal. I'm definitely curious to know how many of those resale contracts are first contracts versus add-on.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

True that many small contracts are add on's but we all know, or at least the people who follow DVC direct sales do, that DVC lowered the minimum buy in. Finally they increased off the 50 point minimum although there's been reports that pop up that while some have been held to 100 points there are still some starting out with DVC at 50 pts.

 

[DisneyNutzy]

What is "smaller" though. Most people if they want a week still need around 100-150 points for a studio.

I would also be interested in how many people are buying a 25-50 point contract as their first vs 2nd contract.

We purchased our 2nd contract at a Doorways to the Dream event in NY when BLT was opening. We already had 150 at VWL. We were adding on 125 points at BLT. I asked to have to contracts broken into smaller ones knowing if we ever wanted to sell they would get a better price and we may keep some.

 

[DVC Doctor]

I personally think 75 points should be the minimum for new owners and 50 for addons

 

[Simba's Mom]

And those 50 point owners are probably not buying to stay in 1BR's or 2BR's even if they planned on banking and borrowing. Over that time the studio availability has tightened up a lot.

Yes, and yet 1 BR availability is usually MUCH better. People just don't want to or don't have the number of points to stay in a 1 BR, when the same number if people (or more) can "legally" stay in a studio. That's why , even though I'm solo, I may be staying in a 1BR in January-that's all that's available, and thankfully, I have the extra points.

 

[sleepydog25]

Using the ROFR report from 2013-2020 it like the data at each DVC resort is consistent. In general the average sales price per point is going up but the average contract point contracts are going down. If this trend continues it appears to be a good trend for owner of small contracts that may need to resell down the road but it will also increase an already tight demand for studios.

This potential trend further exacerbates the generally agreed upon notion that studios are getting harder to reserve. Disney sells to new owners the cachet of the on-the-water experience with the Poly bungalows, the Copper Creek cabins, and the likely waterfront units at the upcoming Reflections. However, given the pricing of DVC anymore, few can afford to buy enough points to routinely stay in said cabins and bungalows. What new owners quickly realize is that their points stretch much further by booking studios.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Maybe just a confusing thread title, but the contract points cannot change on a resale contract, so the only way you see a smaller point contract is if it is purchased direct. Since direct sales are not currently happening, this, to me, would indicate that more people are reluctantly selling the coveted smaller contracts right now, probably in hopes that they'll be able to keep their larger contracts. These typically demand premium prices as Disney would snap them up in ROFR. That's not happening right now - Disney bought back zero contracts in April. Message being, if you want a small, add-on resale contract, now is the time.

 

[CanadaDisney05]

The problem is the point charts that were created. The one and two bedroom options are overly weighted in comparison to studios. A one bedroom is generally double the point cost as a studio for basically the same occupancy level. The two bedroom adds an additional 50% or so. As a contrast, I just took a look at the rack rates at the SSR villas on the cash side, is roughly 35% more expensive than a studio, and a 2 BR is about double the price.

The cash side makes more sense. If I look at my own personal situation (family of 4 with 200 points), I can stay 10 days every year in a studio during the summer, or 5 days in a 1 BR, or 2-3 days in a 2BR. I would be willing to pay more for the extra space and conveniences of the one bedroom, but there is no way I can justify travelling all the way to Florida for a 5 day vacation when I can fit into a studio reasonably and travel for 10 days.

This winter, we are taking my sister and her family down. We are currently booked in two studios. I thought maybe it would be nice to stay in a 2 BR and get access to the laundry room, kitchen, etc... I looked today, and the point cost to jump from 2 studios to a 2 BR is just too large.

 

[Minniesgal]

I wonder how many are upset that they cannot borrow all of their next year points to make their new reservation? When you only have 50-100 points, you sometimes need to borrow.

I'm not upset as I expected it and the beauty of DVC is if you can't go 1 year you go the next but we won't be able to go in 2021 because of the borrowing. We bought to go every two years and bank and borrow so we have used our 2020 points I need 2021 and 2022 to get the 18 nights we go for. We fly from the UK so we prefer 18 nights every 2.5 years or so to fewer nights more often. The worst is we will probably lose 55 points banked from 2019 into 2020 we were planning to use July 2021 but it is what it is.

 

[npatellye]

I personally think 75 points should be the minimum for new owners and 50 for addons

We just bought in December and we were told the minimum to buy as a new owner was 100 points. So we ended up choosing to split our points into two separate contracts of 100 points each.

 

[rich dream vacations]

Agree with all the points made by owners responding to this thread. What interested me most was that on first inspection (just looking at average cost per point for contracts sold in a year by resort) that AKL appears to be a no brainer 1st DVC resale purchase (avg price per point 5 years ago is $88 and it has steadily risen to $107 avg cost per point in 2019). When you factor in the average size of the contract sold, however, it has dropped from 175 points to closer to 100 points.

For new DVC buyers where retention or appreciation of the original contracts purchase value is important this data is isolation could lead them to a false conclusion.

Other resorts have held or increased in average DVC resale price per point and their average contract size (number of points) has remained fairly stable over time (VGF, BLT, BCV are good examples).