Those in the real estate market and those interested in buying and selling domains might find this noteworthy. Domain registrar and hosting provider Godaddy released some statistics that indicate a surge in the registration of domains named after street addresses. 

Comparing 2005 (the year the housing bubble burst) to last year, Go Daddy recorded a more than 320 percent increase in “home address” domain name registrations. States and cities with the most registrations include California, Florida, New York, Phoenix, Ariz., Atlanta, Ga., and Chicago, Ill. – all struggling real estate markets. “We noticed an uptick on domain names containing words like ‘street,’ ‘avenue’ and ‘road,’” said GoDaddy.com CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “When we ran the numbers, the trend line was undeniable. More people are registering domain names matching their physical addresses.” 

According to the Cromford Report, which tracks Arizona estate trends, the average time to sell a home in June ranged from 120 to 180 days (depending on the city). Greg Swann, owner of Bloodhound Realty, an Arizona realtor leveraging domain names and Web sites to sell properties averaged a remarkable 43 days during that period. The strategy involves registering the domain name that is the physical address of the home. From there, a single Web site/domain is built for that home including photos, floor plans and relevant neighborhood information.

“Buyers typically want all the answers to their questions before they talk to me,” said Swann, owner of Bloodhound Realty. “By making the exact address clients are considering available online, all they have to do is type the street address online and presto, the individual Web site pops up and buyers get all the relevant info.” There's clearly a little more to it but it is easy to see how a domain name and Web site can give agents and the properties they represent an edge. “The longer potential buyers spend on the site, the more they know about the home, the more they fall in love with it and the more apt they are to make an offer,” Swann said.

“We’ve always believed domain names are 21st century real estate,” said Parsons. “It makes absolute sense real estate agents are successfully selling homes through domains named for street addresses.” As an editorial aside, I bought a domain name for our home back in 2006 and by some sheer mystical stroke of luck we sold our house in nine days. I offered the domain name to the buyer and he looked at me quizzically - I wonder if he's changed his mind.

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