Also prudent to consider the volume. One might argue there is a higher volume of lower sales which skews the data.
Last week = 102,492
Last month = 107,892
Last year = 97,000
Last 2 yrs = 87,250
Last 3 yrs = 80,889
Last 5 yrs = 76,480
"All-time" won't be very telling because data goes back 20+ years. Some of the earliest years only have a handful of domains listed.
So the volume of sales has been on a steady increase. Let's look at the extremes:
VOLUME
107,892 recorded sales last month.
76,480 recorded sales last 5 yrs.
-
~41% increase.
VALUE
$822 Last month
$1,375 Past 5 yrs.
-
~40% decrease.
I don't feel like explaining ALL the implications. It's not cut-and-dry. I do suggest much of the increasing volume is due to aftermarket platform domainer-to-domainer sales (as promoted by all the 'pro' domainers). It's fair to assume most of those sales are in the low xxx. It does skew the perception of 'value average'.
I feel there has been a domainer aftermarket boom during the last 5 years. Without the domainer aftermarket sales, the volume would actually be FALLING.
It's fine to be a domainer with stagnant prices. The profits don't necessarily come from a rising price, as a stock would. You can buy high and sell low on a case-by-case basis and the big picture doesn't mean anything. If you think .com is 'growing' in value and end-user adoption though, I do insist you are wrong.
In other words, aside from value, the amount of end-user sales is perhaps more important for 'keen' domainers. Again, it's important to ask yourself, how many sales are end-user sales vs. domainer sales. You could have a 'false sense'.
With the ccTLD and nTLD headwinds, I do expect this volume to fall too, fast - starting now. All that's left is to wait and see. 1-2 years will yield the evidence. Face it, when the end-users dry up, so does the artificial liquidity, this volume, which aftermarket domainers provide. Don't recommend holding the bag.
