Sedo released a report on domain transactions in the second quarter of 2012.

Sedo, the owner of the largest domain auction, has released a report on domain transactions in the second half of 2012, "Domain Name Market Study".

The most popular domains at the auction were .COM domains, accounting for 48% of all domain transactions. This is a 3% increase from the first half of the year. .DE domains came in second, accounting for 15% of all transactions.

The top 10 most popular domain zones include .ME domains, which is the first time this has happened.

Domain sales in the second quarter of 2012 decreased compared to the first quarter. Nine thousand domains were sold on Sedo in the second quarter. The total value of all transactions amounted to $17.5 million. May was the leading month, with the most transactions concluded in that month—over 3,100. Summer traditionally sees a decline in business activity, and the number of transactions on the domain market will correspondingly decline.

Domains priced under $500 accounted for 46% of domain transactions. 39% were in the $500 to $2,500 price range. Less than 1% of domain names were priced above $50,000. The average sale price was $1,900 in the second quarter. The average .COM domain price was $2,100, and the average .NET domain price was $2,400.

English-language terms are more expensive, for example, l.kg ($2.4 thousand), seek.md (840 euros) or picture.to (1.5 thousand euros).

In the second quarter of 2012, 8-character domains were the most popular, with the longest domain purchased being private-krankenversicherung-test.de. The most expensive domain sold at the Sedo public auction was casino-online.de.

A total of 200 thematic categories were sold on Sedo. Computer-related domains topped the list, followed by domains classified as "business," and "internet." The top 10 also included categories such as "shopping," "travel," "health," "sports," "society," "finance," and "leisure."