As the second quarter of 2023 draws to a close, Escrow.com is back with another comprehensive domain investment index report. The recent quarter recorded a decrease in total domain name volume, coming down from $129.8M in Q1 to $89M in Q2. A plausible explanation is the lesser incidence of “mega” domain transactions. However, the figures are predicted to ascend, taking into account the anticipated stimulus from the recent Namescon event.
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Key Highlights
- .ai Domains: An interesting highlight of Q2 was the sustained momentum of .ai domains. These domains registered their best quarter so far in terms of volume, reflective of the ongoing tech revolution dominated by artificial intelligence.
- Number Domains: The quarter also observed a considerable increase in the median price of two and three number {0-9} .com and four number .com domains.
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Regional Analysis
The transaction value of domain names from the United States and the United Kingdom saw a downward trend, falling from $87M to $62.3M and from $22M to $13.6M, respectively. On the other hand, China recorded a remarkable surge from $3.6M to $14.3M, reflecting the growing digital economy in the region.
Content Vs. No Content
The value proposition of domain names bundled with content experienced a slight downturn, with the median price decreasing to $5,000 from $6,000 in the previous quarter. Conversely, domain names without content witnessed an increase in their median price from $4,000 to $4,500. The total transaction value, however, eased for both categories.
Pricing Updates by Category
- Two and three letter .com domains (LL.com, LLL.com): The median price more than doubled from $52k to $140k.
- Four letter .com domains (LLLL.com): The median price saw a mild increase from $7.9k to $9.9k.
- Five letter .com domains (LLLLL.com): The median price climbed to $8.7k.
- Two and three character .com domains (CC.com, CCC.com): There was a significant value increase from $36k to $95k.
- Four character .com domains (CCCC.com): The median price rose to $9k.
- Five character .com domains (CCCCC.com): The median price increased to $9k from $5.7k.
- Six character .com domains (CCCCCC.com): The median price continues its upward journey from $5,000 to $7.7k.
- Two and three number .com domains (NN.com, NNN.com): The coveted numeric domains continued their value surge to reach $698k.
- Four number .com domains (NNNN.com): This category recorded a record median price of $300k.
- Domains containing a hyphen maintained their value with a slight dip from $986k to $694k.
- .ai Domains: The booming AI sector led to a spike in the value of ‘.ai’ domain names, which are currently valued at $1.8M.
The overall analysis reveals that despite the slight dip in the total domain volume, the market has seen exciting trends, with .ai and numerical domains gaining prominence. It’s interesting to observe how the market dynamics change and what the next quarter holds for domain investors.