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What tax-defaulted parcels actually sold for

California counties publish what they intend to sell. Almost none publish what it went for. These are the results we’ve collected — winning bids, what drew no bid at all, and how far above the opening price buyers really paid.

Sales still ahead: the California tax sale calendar
Sales recorded67
Counties21
Parcels8,912
Gross proceeds$98.9M

Across every sale where the county published both figures, the median parcel sold for 1.6× its opening bid. Only 39% of parcels offered actually sold — the opening price is what the county is owed, not evidence anyone wants the parcel. That rate counts the 57 sales where the county published its full list; 10 sales below are a sold list only and are left out.

CountySale dateOfferedSoldGrossMedian × bid
San BernardinoJuly 17, 20261559309 (20%)$5.5M1.3×View →
MontereyMay 27, 202622 (100%)$7K2.1×View →
SacramentoMay 19, 202644 (100%)$1.0M7.6×View →
San DiegoMay 11, 2026396239 (60%)$612K1.0×View →
San FranciscoApril 23, 202642 (50%)$28K1.0×View →
ShastaMarch 27, 202631 (33%)$41K3.8×View →
MontereyMarch 25, 20261613 (81%)$862K2.4×View →
San DiegoMarch 16, 2026546167 (31%)$10.7M1.2×View →
AmadorMarch 9, 2026155 (33%)$207K2.4×View →
ShastaFebruary 27, 20262724 (89%)$611K3.1×View →
Contra CostaFebruary 25, 202688 (sold list only)$1.9M—View →
SacramentoFebruary 25, 202677 (100%)$1.8M4.8×View →
NevadaNovember 13, 20251717 (sold list only)$410K—View →
SonomaNovember 10, 20252018 (90%)$2.4M4.2×View →
El DoradoNovember 5, 20251111 (sold list only)$645K—View →
CalaverasNovember 20251313 (sold list only)$395K—View →
San BenitoOctober 30, 202511 (100%)$34K5.6×View →
San BenitoOctober 202550 (0%)$0—View →
ColusaSeptember 16, 202597 (78%)$832K5.6×View →
MariposaAugust 22, 2025331 (3%)$9K1.9×View →
MariposaAugust 7, 2025155 (33%)$160K3.5×View →
FresnoJune 13, 202533 (sold list only)$383K—View →
San Luis ObispoMay 30, 202522 (100%)$57K1.1×View →
San FranciscoMay 22, 20253737 (100%)$9K200.0×View →
Contra CostaMay 21, 202511 (sold list only)$217K—View →
SacramentoMay 20, 202522 (100%)$475K9.1×View →
Santa ClaraMay 16, 20252121 (sold list only)$3.5M—View →
San DiegoMay 12, 2025356182 (51%)$1.2M1.0×View →
San BernardinoMay 10, 2025771420 (54%)$11.0M1.7×View →
San FranciscoApril 24, 2025441 (2%)$4K1.0×View →
FresnoMarch 27, 20253030 (sold list only)$2.9M—View →
San DiegoMarch 19, 2025495150 (30%)$4.4M1.2×View →
AmadorMarch 10, 2025145 (36%)$414K5.2×View →
SacramentoFebruary 27, 202565 (83%)$1.1M8.7×View →
Contra CostaFebruary 26, 202588 (sold list only)$1.2M—View →
ShastaFebruary 21, 20253328 (85%)$950K3.3×View →
Placer20252814 (50%)$193K1.5×View →
NevadaNovember 7, 202477 (sold list only)$770K—View →
San BernardinoAugust 20, 2024906104 (11%)$1.8M1.0×View →
MariposaAugust 9, 2024125 (42%)$381K2.0×View →
San BenitoJuly 10, 202411 (100%)$40K2.5×View →
San BernardinoJune 4, 20241528667 (44%)$16.4M2.0×View →
MontereyMay 29, 202498 (89%)$397K3.5×View →
San FranciscoMay 23, 20246060 (100%)$12K100.0×View →
SacramentoMay 21, 202496 (67%)$971K3.3×View →
San DiegoMay 20, 202422990 (39%)$504K1.0×View →
AmadorMarch 11, 2024229 (41%)$707K7.2×View →
Placer2024122 (17%)$217K2.6×View →
Trinity20242521 (84%)$357K1.5×View →
SonomaNovember 13, 20232117 (81%)$342K1.7×View →
San BernardinoAugust 28, 2023990612 (62%)$12.2M2.1×View →
MariposaAugust 11, 2023155 (33%)$201K2.4×View →
Placer202363 (50%)$35K4.5×View →
SonomaSeptember 6, 202293 (33%)$45K2.0×View →
MariposaAugust 12, 2022217 (33%)$218K1.3×View →
SonomaMay 18, 20222519 (76%)$676K1.5×View →
Placer20221312 (92%)$131K2.7×View →
Placer202113214 (11%)$1.6M5.1×View →
Placer20195611 (20%)$203K0.1×View →
Trinity201964 (67%)$164K3.5×View →
Placer2018308 (27%)$2050.0×View →
Placer20173228 (88%)$346K1.0×View →
Marin20177921 (27%)$224K1.0×View →
Placer20162210 (45%)$2.0M1.0×View →
Placer20151918 (95%)$490K1.0×View →
Placer20143130 (97%)$654K1.0×View →
Placer20132312 (52%)$514K1.0×View →

How to read these

The opening bid is not a valuation. It is set from the taxes and costs the county is owed. A parcel selling for many times its opening bid says the debt was small, not that the buyer got a bargain.

Unsold parcels are the useful signal. Where a county offers many and sells few, the inventory is difficult — remnant strips, parcels without legal access, burn-scar lots.

Some counties publish no opening bid. Those sales show a dash rather than a fabricated ratio.

Some counties publish only what sold. A sold list says nothing about how many parcels were offered, so those sales are marked “sold list only” and carry no sell-through rate. The prices are still real.

Some dates are a year, not a day. Placer files its results by year and Marin’s 2017 report carries no date at all. Where a sale shows only a year, that is all the county published — we don’t invent the rest.

See what’s coming up

Every parcel currently headed to auction, checked against wildfire perimeters, zoning minimums and assessor records before you bid.

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