Escrow.com released its Domain Investment Index Report for Q3/2022 today. Domain name sales saw a 28% decrease in total transactions in Q3/2022, dropping from $105 million in Q3/2021 to $75 million.
However, domain name sales have increased by 8%, from $449 million in 2021 to $489 million in 2022, trailing twelve months up to September this year.
That being said, domain name sales through Escrow.com have also seen a strong bounce back in the second and third weeks of October, as total GPV across all transactions in the week of the 10th October reached highs of $18 million USD.
“Domain sales have shot back up strongly in October with significant sales in the first two weeks of the month,” said Matt Barrie, Chief Executive at Escrow.com.
“The decrease in Q3 sales can almost all be attributed to a drop in multi-million dollar mega domain name transactions, which have been a result of the recent crypto crash and tech wreck. Venture capital was down in the third quarter by 53%, for example, so we saw a decline in startups seeking a premium brand to launch. The crypto space also experienced a large decline, and crypto ventures have been a large purchaser of $10m+ domains in the last year. The general climate in domains, which we confirmed at NamesCon recently was that many decided to hang up a sign saying ‘gone fishin’ for the summer.”
“Premium domain name pricing, however, will continue to appreciate in price as a substantial arbitrage still exists between owning the industry defining canonical domain name for online retail and physical retail property. A decent storefront on a high street anywhere in a major city costs millions of dollars,” added Mr. Barrie.
“1Q22 and 2Q22 were solid quarters for us, but in 3Q22 things noticeably slowed down. October has picked up and if we stay on track we should finish the year with decent numbers,” said David Clements, CEO at Brannans.com. “When I got into this business 15 years ago, I saw domain names as alternative investments and I still do. As an industry, the ups and downs I’ve seen in the past typically follow the markets, but there has been such a huge surge in prices achieved for dictionary word .com domains that even with the markets down, we’ve still done some pretty solid business over the past few years.”
Escrow.com continues to be the leading way businesses across the world secure premium domain names for their brands.
“Bottom line is that founders and Fortune 500s alike have really come around. They understand how valuable a one-word .com is for their brand. They know that it’s going to take a significant investment to get one because everyone else wants it too,” added Clements.
View the full Escrow.com report.
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