The IPv4 transfer market continued to show signs of stabilization in June 2026.
Based on completed IPv4Center marketplace transactions and official RIR transfer records, June closed with 97 transactions, 580,608 IPv4 addresses traded, and a weighted average price of $21.49 per IP.
At first glance, the market looks stronger than May. The average price moved higher month-over-month. But the year-over-year picture is more important: the June 2026 average is still 24% below June 2025 levels.
That makes June an interesting month for buyers, sellers, lessees and IPv4 holders.
The short version: IPv4 is still valuable, but pricing is becoming more selective. Clean small blocks continue to command premiums, while large ARIN blocks remain more heavily discounted.
Key figures — June 2026
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Transactions | 97 |
| IP addresses traded | 580,608 |
| Average price / IP | $21.49 |
| Median price / IP | $20.00 |
| Estimated market value | $7,181,153 |
| RIR transfers | 328 |
| Buy-vs-lease payback | ~37 months |
The median price of $20/IP is especially important because it shows that the market is not simply being pulled upward by a few premium deals. Instead, the current market appears to be forming a more realistic pricing range after the aggressive highs of 2021–2024.
What changed in June?
June was not a full market reversal.
It looked more like a stabilization month.
The average price increased compared with May, but the broader trend is still softer than last year. Buyers are more price-sensitive, sellers are adjusting expectations, and block quality now matters more than ever.
In today’s market, the difference between a clean, transferable RIPE /24 and a large ARIN legacy block can be significant. The headline average price does not tell the full story.
That is why we break the full report down by:
- RIR region
- block size
- transfer volume
- country activity
- buy-vs-lease economics
- price forecast
- long-term IPv4 transfer trends
You can read the complete report here:
👉 IPv4 Market Report — June 2026 on IPv4Center
Pricing by RIR
One of the clearest patterns in June was the difference between RIPE and ARIN pricing.
| RIR | Transactions | Avg $/IP | IPs Traded |
|---|---|---|---|
| RIPE NCC | 48 | $23.20 | 97,792 |
| ARIN | 44 | $19.25 | 480,512 |
| APNIC | 4 | $24.75 | 1,280 |
| LACNIC | 1 | $25.50 | 1,024 |
| AFRINIC | 0 | — | 0 |
RIPE accounted for almost half of all transactions, but ARIN represented the majority of the traded IP volume.
This is a common pattern in the IPv4 market:
RIPE usually has more small-block activity and stronger per-IP pricing. ARIN usually has more large-block volume and lower bulk pricing.
For buyers, this means the “right” price depends heavily on what kind of block you need. A /24 for production hosting, geolocation-sensitive infrastructure, or enterprise routing will not price the same way as a bulk /16 acquisition.
The full report includes a deeper RIR-by-RIR breakdown, including median pricing, RIR transfer counts, and next-month / year-end projections.
👉 View the full RIR pricing analysis
The /24 premium is still real
/24 blocks remained the most active segment of the market.
That is not surprising.
A /24 is still the practical minimum routable IPv4 block for most BGP use cases. Many hosting providers, SaaS companies, VPN/proxy operators, regional ISPs and enterprise buyers do not need a /16. They need one or two clean, routable /24s.
This keeps small blocks liquid and relatively expensive on a per-IP basis.
Large blocks, on the other hand, usually come with volume discounts. They are attractive for serious infrastructure operators, but they require more capital, stronger technical planning and a clear deployment strategy.
In the full report, we included a block-size forecast covering:
- /24
- /23
- /22
- /21
- /20
- /19
- /18–/16
- /15 and larger
Buy vs. lease: the most important calculation this month
The buy-vs-lease math is one of the most practical parts of the June report.
At the June 2026 average price of $21.49 per IP and an average lease rate of $0.5859 per IP per month, the payback period for buying IPv4 space is approximately:
36.7 months
That is just over 3 years.
For a /24 block:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| /24 purchase price | ~$5,501 |
| /24 lease price | ~$150 / month |
| Payback period | ~36.7 months |
| Gross annual yield | ~32.7% |
This does not mean everyone should buy immediately.
Leasing still makes sense for short-term projects, temporary infrastructure, testing, migration periods, or teams that do not want to commit upfront capital.
But for organizations with a 3+ year planning horizon, the economics increasingly favor buying — especially if the block is clean, transferable and suitable for long-term production use.
For IPv4 holders, the same math tells a different story: leasing unused addresses can generate meaningful recurring yield instead of leaving assets idle.
The full report includes a more complete breakdown of buying, leasing, selling and leasing out IPv4 blocks.
👉 Read the complete buy-vs-lease breakdown
Forecast: soft landing, not a crash
Our model projects a modest decline from June levels:
| Period | Forecast |
|---|---|
| July 2026 | $20.83 / IP |
| December 2026 | $20.44 / IP |
That would represent continued softness, but not a market collapse.
The key point is that the market appears to be moving toward more rational pricing. The extreme premiums of the post-pandemic infrastructure boom are fading, but IPv4 demand has not disappeared.
IPv6 adoption continues, but many real-world production systems still depend on IPv4. Public-facing infrastructure, hosting, B2B integrations, legacy applications, security tooling and network operations still require IPv4 reachability.
That keeps the market alive — even as pricing becomes more selective.
What this means for buyers
Buyers are in a stronger position than they were in 2023 or 2024.
Prices are lower, supply is more available, and sellers are more realistic. However, the cheapest block is not always the best block.
Before buying IPv4 space, buyers should verify:
- blacklist history
- spam database status
- RIR transfer eligibility
- current and historical routing
- geolocation requirements
- LOA / ROA / RPKI requirements
- whether escrow will be used
A discounted block with poor reputation can become more expensive than a clean premium block if remediation takes months.
What this means for sellers
For sellers, June’s numbers suggest that waiting for 2021–2024 pricing to return may not be realistic in the short term.
If you hold unused IPv4 space, you generally have two options:
- Sell now and unlock liquidity.
- Lease the block and generate recurring revenue.
The right choice depends on your need for capital, your operational capacity, and your view on future IPv4 pricing.
The full report includes a dedicated sell-vs-lease framework for block holders.
What this means for lessees
Leasing remains useful when flexibility matters.
If you only need IPv4 space for a few months, leasing is still the simplest option. But if you expect to use the same IPv4 capacity for more than three years, the payback math becomes difficult to ignore.
For long-term infrastructure, buying may be cheaper than leasing.
For short-term capacity, leasing still wins.
Read the full report
This Dev.to post is only a summarized version of the June 2026 IPv4 Market Report.
The full report includes:
- per-RIR pricing analysis
- block-size pricing and forecasts
- transfer activity by RIR
- geographic activity
- long-run transfer trends
- buy-vs-lease calculations
- IPv4 yield comparison
- market outlook through December 2026
- methodology and data sources
- frequently asked questions
👉 Read the full report here:
IPv4 Market Report — June 2026 on IPv4Center
Source: IPv4Center.com market data and RIR transfer statistics. This report is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
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