Escrow.com Q3 2019 domain name sales report

Escrow.com released the Domain Investment Index Q3 2019 report.

Sales rose in Q3 despite the fact that summer is the slowest part of the year in terms of domain name sales. I expect sales in Q4 to rise even further. Also China is seeing a slow down in domain sales.

Here are some important findings from the Escrow.com report:

– The total value of domain names transacted rose to US$69.3 million in Q3 2019, up from US$68.6 million in Q2 2019

– Although 2-3 character domains continue to attract the highest prices, the report shows a trend of longer domain names rising in value, and letters are more popular than numbers, regardless of length.

– Domain names using letters saw a rise in median price, regardless of their length. While 2-3 letter domains remain the most valuable at a median price of US$444,000 in Q3 2019, 4-, 5- and 6-letter domains also saw rises in median price for the quarter.

– After a meteoric rise in Q1 and a steep decline in Q2, 2-3 character .com domains have seen some recovery in Q3 2019. Following a dip after two consecutive strong quarters, 4 character .com domain name median price continued its rise, from US$7000 in Q2 2019 to US$7250 in Q3 2019. Likewise, 5- and 6-character domains also saw a rise in median price.

– Four letter domains dropped to $4000 after peaking at $6000 in Q1 2019.

– Demand for domain names by country remains volatile: After a strong Q2, China fell sharply in total transaction value for Q3, while the United Kingdom overtook it as the second strongest market for domain name sales. The United States retains its spot at number one with the highest total transaction value.

– The United States continued to lead the top 5 regions by total transaction value by a wide margin at $55 million. However, China’s Q2 2019 rally proved short-lived. After hitting $13 million in transaction value in Q2, transaction value in China fell to $4.6 million in Q3 2019, as illustrated in Figure 3.3.

– Domain names with content continued to attract a higher median than those without content, although the median price for domains with content continued to drop from US$7700 in Q2 2019 to US$5800 in Q3 2019. Domain names without content also declined slightly in median value, from US$2900 in Q2 to US$2800 in Q3 2019.