According to an article today in the Sydney Morning Herald, the domain name InvestmentProperty.com.au was sold in an expired domain name auction for $125,000 (around $129,000USD). The auction was held on NetFleet, a domain name aftermarket and sales venue.

The report states that the buyer is an Australian property developer, and apparently the previous registrant did not realize the domain name had expired.

The sale of InvestmentProperty.com.au is reportedly the highest publicly reported .com.au price achieved, significantly higher than the previous high of $33,000 for Hardware.com.au. The article does cite other private sales that may have been higher, including Poker.com.au, Flowers.com.au, and CreditCards.com.au.

In celebration of its third anniversary, the .ME Registry sent out a press release to share some insight about the number of .ME domain names registered, its rate of growth, and usage around the world.

At the present time, there are over 530,000 .ME domain names registered, and the owners of these domain names reside in more than 200 countries. Over 50% of the .ME registrations are owned by people in the US, which I also find to be interesting. From July 2010 to July 2011, the Registry saw a 27% growth rate, which is three times the average, according to Verisign.

I didn’t realize how strong the growth rate for .ME was, but these numbers are impressive. I don’t believe I currently own .ME domain names, but I am going to see how they’re doing on the aftermarket to  gauge  whether it would be a worthwhile investment. Happy anniversary to the Registry..

If you own .ME domain names (and want to share some of your insight), how have you been doing with them in terms of ROI?

Press Release::

Podgorica, Montenegro – July 20, 2011 – It’s been three years since the .ME Registry first launched open registrations of the Montenegrin country code Top Level Domain on July 17, 2008. “In that time, the dot-ME domain has transitioned from one country’s Web identity to the most effective personal domain name extension in the world,” says Predrag Lesic, Executive Director of the .ME Registry. “Dot-ME has truly ‘gone global,’ having registered more than 530,000 domains in 200 countries.”

Given the popular use of the word “me” in America, it may not be much of surprise to learn more than half (52.92%) of .ME registrations are based the United States; another 7.68% were originated by users in the United Kingdom. 3.82% were registered in Germany, 3.81% in Canada, and 3.63% in Japan.

But, it is the percentage of .ME growth quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year that proves the domain is a consistent top choice among persons and companies looking to be sure their web address stands out from the crowd. During the Registry’s last fiscal year (July 2010-June 2011), the registration of .ME domains grew by 27%; which, according to VeriSign’s May 2011 Domain Name Industry Brief (pdf), is more than three times the average industry increase during the report’s measured 12-month period (7.9%).

“While every Internet entrepreneur knows it takes time to build quality content behind any domain name, after only three years, there are many innovative online destinations and services with dot-ME extensions,” adds Lesic.

One of those truly innovative online destinations is Internet celebrity and Go Daddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons’ popular video blog, BobParsons.Me. “My blog discusses topics I find interesting, so dot-Me makes sense,” says Parsons. “The great thing about dot-Me is it gives individuals, many of which are business people, a place to register domain names for websites that communicate their personal ideas and interests.”

Some of the most catchy and popular .ME domains include Formspring.Me, a site which allows anyone on the Web to ask you questions and provides a platform to answer them; About.Me, an easy-to-build customized personal webpage considered so innovative the start-up site was acquired by AOL from the founding venture capitalists just a week after its launch; and Blog.Me, the South Korean blogging platform with more than 27 million users.

.ME has also become extraordinarily popular recently for its value in the world of mobile apps and as a URL shortener for some of the world’s biggest companies, such as WordPress (WP.Me), Facebook (FB.Me), Yahoo (ME.Me), VKontakte (VK.Me) and Time Magazine (TI.Me).

“Some might argue that dot-ME has put the young country of Montenegro in a worldwide spotlight,” notes Lesic. “We certainly are proud of dot-ME’s international presence and of the Registry’s accomplishments in successfully marketing the domain for its value, simplicity and brand presence online.”

For additional examples and articles about the many clever uses of .ME, visit http://www.domain.me/blog and to learn more about the .ME Registry, visit www.Domain.Me.