Real estate is booming in the metaverse with digital land in Decentraland selling for as much as $2.43 million.

That’s higher than the average home price in Manhattan, New York.

Prices for plots have soared as much as 500 per cent in the last few months since Facebook announced it was changing its name to Meta and going all-in on virtual reality.

A recent report by cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale estimates the digital world could grow into a $1 trillion business in the next few years.

Last year Metaverse Group – a subsidiary of Tokens.com – dropped a record-breaking $2.4 million on land in Decentraland.

They said they would use the “116 parcel estate in the heart of the Fashion Street district” of Decentraland to expand into the digital-fashion industry.

Decentraland’s MANA token was at an all time high of $5.41 in November 2021, but has since plummeted to $3.

The land however, is still a very valuable commodity, especially near areas where players spawn into the game.

Decentraland’s plazas (spawn points where players first come into the game) aren’t for sale, but the surrounding land is prime real estate.

Kiguel said buying real estate in the metaverse is all about location.

“There are areas when you first go into the metaverse where people congregate — those areas would certainly be a lot more valuable than the areas that don’t have any events going on,” Kiguel said.

“Think about the board game Monopoly.

“We just bought Boardwalk and the surrounding area.

“Areas where people congregate are far more valuable for advertisers and retailers to find ways to get in there to access that demographic.”

Another metaverse world where digital land is selling for millions is The Sandbox.

Snoop Dogg is currently building a virtual mansion on a plot of land in The Sandbox and someone paid $450,000 to be his neighbour.

Janine Yorio’s virtual real estate development company, Republic Realm, spent $4.3 million on virtual land in The Sandbox.

Yorio said her company sold 100 virtual private islands last year for $15,000 each.

“Today, they’re selling for about $300,000 each, which is coincidentally the same as the average home price in America,” she added.

“I think it absolutely matters who your neighbour is.

“That’s kind of true of almost anything, right?

“It’s like a club and you want to be around people that share similar interests.”

Buying digital land is simple – either purchase it directly from the platform such as Decentraland or The Sandbox or through a developer on the secondary market.

Investors are building on their land and making it interactive.

Yorio said: “You can decorate it, you can change it, you can renovate.”

Before adding: ″It’s highly, highly risky. You should only invest capital that you’re prepared to lose.

“It’s highly speculative.

“It’s also blockchain-based.

“And as we all know, crypto is highly volatile.

“But it can also be massively rewarding.”