Want to Buy a Timeshare?

Tired of the doom and gloom of the world share markets and property? Don't want to know that as of yesterday Australia's share market was worth exactly 50% of what it was last year? Well I have a word for you: timeshares. The timeshare operators are in the market and are buying up big!

Accor Vacation Club is a major timeshare operator in Australia and has bought a swag of apartments in a prime Gold Coast building. AVC operates well-known brands such as Grand Mecure and Novotel.

According to The Australian newspaper:

it is buying 44 units in one line at what is believed to be a significantly discounted price.

AVC chief executive John Osborne declined to reveal the price paid for the Freshwater Point apartments but local agents said one-bedroom apartments in the Broadbeach complex had been selling for about $400,000 and two-bedroom units for between $500,000 and $700,000.

AVC bought 22 of each. Sources put the value of the deal at about $20 million.

This is not just any old apartment building in need of a refurbishment though. The developer Matthew Property Group had finished the building a year ago and the apartments are a mixture of one and two star apartments all rated 4.5 star. The property is prime real-estate located in the heart of Broadbeach and accross the highway from Jupiter's Casino, the iconic destination for the Gold Coast.

It seems that times are good for timeshares - the Australian Timeshare and Holiday Ownership Council research shows that timeshare occupancy is running at over 94%. It may well continue to be strong to - especially in Australian's decide to holiday at home on the back on the much weaker US$ which has dropped from US98c to US67c in less than 4 months.

The Gold Coast is a perennially popular family destination with that magic combination of theme parks, good beaches and cheap food - and Broadbeach is a a prime area of the Gold Coast.

AVC reports that all their properties have occupancy rates of better than 90% including properties Melbourne CBD, Snowy Mountains, Sydney CBD, resorts and Coffs Harbour and Cairns and Sunshine Coast.

It looks like the big player bargain hunter are entering the market: I guess anyone with cash who can afford to buy a significant percentage of a building would be in a great bargaining position with a cash-strapped developer. It works for the timeshare company to, as they normally like to own a fairly large percentage of the building so that they can cost-effectively manage it and control the day-to-day running of the property.

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