Domain brokerage and consultancy GGRG.com has released their latest free quarterly report (.PDF file) breaking down aftermarket sales and development of "liquid domain names" in the 4th quarter of 2017. GGRG defines liquid domains as  being very short .com domains consisting of all letters (L) or all numbers (N), as well as 3-character (C) .coms that have a  combination of letters and numbers. GGRG terms these categories "liquid" domains because they are relatively easy to sell at prevailing market rates.

GGRG's latest report, produced by Founder Giuseppe Graziano in conjunction with Escrow.com, Intelium.com and ShortNames.com, said, "In Q4, the disclosed transactions for liquid domains, as reported by ShortNames.com, nearly doubled from $5.4 million to $9 million. The total liquid domain turnover went up (from 3,449 sales to 5,256), confirming that there might be a negative seasonality factor in the 3rd quarter for liquid domain sales. At the same time, Escrow.com sales volume went down 25% from $24 million to $18 million. According to Escrow.com, the most traded category in Q4 was 3-character .com domains ($6.4 million), followed by 4-letters at $4.6 million and 3-number .com domains at $3.97 million, the latter boosted by a record 3N portfolio sale by Rick Schwartz."

GGRG Founder Giuseppe Graziano

The report added, "Following the trend in our past reports, China continues to be the largest net gainer of liquid domains, adding over 10,000 domains (1.64%) in Q4. China now owns 31.17% of all liquid domains, with Chinese registrants controlling over 50% of the 5Ns (a 5% increase from last quarter), 45% of the 4Ns and 42% of the 2Ns. The United States is a distant second at 17.51%, after losing 10% of the 2Ls and 8.28% of 3L domains in Q4...The rest of the world and Europe are stable at the 4th and 5th place, respectively with 7.64% and 7.13%. European owners represent approximately 10% of registrants in the most developed categories (2Ls, 2Cs and 3Ls), which suggests that liquid domains are perceived as brands rather than investments in the European Union."

In its forecast for the current quarter that will end March 31, GGRG noted, "Q1 is typically a slow quarter, with fewer transactions due to a decrease in activity around the Chinese New Year. It is possible that the fall in the crypto currency prices could generate additional liquidity from the investors who are looking to hedge themselves from high volatility. The performance of the equity markets could also influence the liquidity flowing into domain names. While the market is still uncertain, the overall negative trend is likely to continue even if a few large transactions in the most valuable categories might keep the overall sales volume high."

These are just a few highlights from the latest GGRG report. You will find much more data in the full report here.