Internet real estate is booming
Website domain names start with price tags under $10, but some people are flipping them for big profits in a market that's starting to see 8-figure transactions. Jeremy Hobson looks at what's driving up the price of virtual real estate.
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Scott Jagow: If you were thinking of buying the website name dollars.com, it's too late. It just sold to a Swiss company for $650,000. Some domain names are going for a lot more than that. We asked Jeremy Hobson to check it out.
Jeremy Hobson: Ron Jackson tracks domain names for a living. He's the editor of DNjournal.com and he says with more people surfing the Web, Internet ad revenue is growing.
That's what's jacking up the price of Web real estate, especially for generic domains like Candy.com, which users might come across if they're looking for candy.
Ron Jackson: That could be, if they're fortunate, a developed website that has just what they're looking for. Or, in the case of candy.com, it's a parked page, which means they're selling the traffic to other advertisers.
Generic domains like seniors.com and porn.com recently sold for millions.
Monte Cahn is the CEO of Internet real estate broker Moniker.com. He says buyers include private equity firms and venture capitalists.
Monte Cahn: Domain names are appreciating in value at a faster rate than property is, than real real estate.
Cahn says some investors just sit on a domain name and don't develop the site at all, and can still flip it for a profit.
I'm Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.
