The Luxury Villas Near Disney World That Were ‘Once Printing Money’ on Airbnb Now Have 20 Months of Inventory and Hundreds of Sellers

An X post from @SMB_Attorney described a wave of home listings inside Reunion Resort, a gated luxury community near Walt Disney World in Florida built around short-term rental investment properties.

The poster wrote that Reunion spans 2,300 acres and includes golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Tom Watson, along with private pools, water park access, and zoning that allows short-term rentals throughout the community.

For years, the community represented an attractive opportunity for investors who would buy large villas and list them on Airbnb or Vrbo to capture bookings from families visiting Disney World. He wrote that inventory has since "exploded," citing roughly 900 to 940 homes currently for sale inside the resort, which he said amounts to about 20 to 22 months of supply.

Some replies speculated about what might be driving the shift in demand. One commenter wrote, "So either Disney is practically giving away the on-property rooms, or fewer people see value in the Mouse House, or it has nothing to do with anything I said."

Others focused on the design of the homes on sale. One person wrote, "I like the style of these houses though with a ton of bedrooms for the money. 7 bedrooms in 3300 sq is nuts."

The X user described the properties currently listed as "massive, fully loaded mega-mansions and luxury villas with theaters, arcades, resort-style pools, and golf views" that he said were "once printing money on paper." He wrote that the current wave of listings reflects the "unwinding" of what had been a popular investment strategy tied to Disney tourism.

One compared the situation to another housing slowdown they had heard about in a nearby market. They wrote, "I have heard the same thing about the housing market in Tampa. Absolute dumpster fire. Homes for sale everywhere. Mass influx of people moving there equals tons of new construction. Now it's tapered off. Scary times." The commenter's characterization of the Tampa market could not be independently verified.

Another questioned whether the properties were ever as profitable as buyers believed. They wrote, "You think they were ever actually 'killing it' on paper? I'm in the area too and am somewhat adjacent to the space but I'm somewhat doubtful they were amazing investments once all the spec builders started throwing a bunch of them up."

This article is based on a post shared by @SMB_Attorney on X. The Daily Dot could not independently verify the number of homes listed, the months of supply figure, the resort's specifications, or the investment characterizations described in the post. Reunion Resort was not contacted for comment.