In case you haven’t noticed, real estate is going virtual. Property is now being sold on virtual plots in the metaverse, a connected 3D virtual world that incorporates the digital and physical through the use of VR and AR technologies. Users donning digital avatars can meet, communicate, and create content, making the novel space a collaborative tool—and a world unto its own.
The latest example of real estate making waves in the metaverse is Meta Residence, a real-world mansion that will come with its own virtual counterpart in The Sandbox. A joint venture between ONE Sotheby’s International Realty and Voxel Architects, the 11,000-square-foot house will rise on a one-acre site in an upscale Miami neighborhood and is expected to fetch millions from its NFT auction on the Ethereum blockchain later this year. “We’re building a rare lifestyle experience that blurs the lines between the metaverse and reality,” Gabe Sierra, president of the joint venture, says in a statement. “Never before has a project like this been delivered, and we’re proud to offer the buyer of this NFT a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own the first MetaReal mansion ever created.”
Buying virtual real estate may seem like an absurd idea, but it’s attracting significant investment. Someone recently spent $450,000 on a parcel of land in the “Snoopverse,” a virtual world that Snoop Dogg developed within The Sandbox. That’s relatively inexpensive compared to Metaverse Group, a real estate company focused on metaverse transactions, which bought a piece of land in Decentraland for $2.43 million. While details remain under wraps about Meta Residence, it’s expected to garner seven or eight figures at auction.
