These values are based on the end-user business model...! It's all about the end user for domain name values...they are the people who will be looking at profit potential.
When someone buys a fixed asset e.g. a piece of machinery in a factory, they need to produce x to break even etc...these principles apply perfectly to domain names!!!!!
A business that is starting up these days NEEDS A GOOD WEB PRESENCE!! And....the way they find that is through a domain name. If one holds a significant portion of a niche sector then the prices are fixed...like a monopoly. They just can't get it anywhere else so they are forced to part with 'current rates' that are set.....