This week, Dominion Registries is relaunching its .HOMES gTLD. The company also manages .AUTOS, .BOATS, .YACHTS and .MOTORCYCLES. At first, all these domains had eligibility requirements so that only players on the corresponding markets could register domain names. For example, verification could take 1-2 weeks before clients were able to use .HOMES domains, and registration also carried a hefty price tag.
This approach turned off both registrants and registrars. According to Domain Name Wire, as of today, .HOMES only has several hundred names registered. It seems Dominion Registries realized their mistake and decided to change their strategy. Last year, the company waived the requirements and lowered prices for .YACHTS, and is now doing the same for .HOMES. The restrictions are being lifted, and the standard registration price will be $35 instead of over $100, in addition to promotional first-year rates of around $15 retail. It is unclear how the market will react, but registrars regard the changes positively. A large registrar company, GoDaddy, is already on board and ready to work with .HOMES.
