How many of those listings are the "many" you saw? The ones currently marked on RW as "sold" for $9999 are actually 1BR units. If you saw a 2BR sell for $10K that was IMO probably a highly unusual case and must have been some kind of distressed sale due to a job loss, inheritance or maybe another unfortunate matter. We live in unusual times, but if a distressed sale happens that doesn't necessarily turn it into the new "market price". I myself bought our first 2 weeks at WKV around 2009/10 (another highly challenging economic period) in what I'd consider "distressed sales" - we were in the right place at the right time and found the right situations without even looking too hard. But that's not the norm and I couldn't repeat that feat for many years thereafter, and I was trying a lot harder.
Another example - I'm currently looking to buy another Platinum week at a Marriott resort and talked to an agent who told me she had 4 inherited weeks that sold for a certain price I would have been ecstatic to pay. I would have bought al 4 for that price... The problem is that I've been looking for someone to sell at the price for 2 years now and still haven't found that person, even with the recent economic downturn. So it all depends on how much you want to wait for that one opportunity.
To consider a reasonable price to pay consider the rental value as an example. That's not factoring in the fact the WKV gives you Hawaii and Atlantis access with a very generous SO/MF ratio - just rental value. The reason the WKV price is not $10,000 is that WKV 2BR P+ easily rents for $4500+ every year, and went for even $5000+ this current year when there were limited travel options and everyone had cabin fever. So if you can get $2500-$3000 over maintenance fees, even at a cash $15,000 outlay that's a 17%-20% annual return on investment. Can you point to many real estate investments with that kind of return on investment? Obviously if you can buy it for less your return would be higher and if you pay more the return is lower. But I'd argue that if someone asked you to pay as high as $25,000 and get $2500 annual income (over your annual expenses) without mentioning the words "timeshare" or "Kierland" that 10% annual return would seem attractive to many people (assuming the $25,000 outlay was mostly recoverable at the end in order for it to actually be a 10% annual return).
