More than 700 properties are set to be sold to the highest bidder at an online auction early next year because their owners have failed to pay millions of dollars in taxes to San Diego County.

It is the largest sale of so-called tax-deferred properties in the county in seven years.

Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors approved the public offering of land, houses and other assets whose owners are at least five years behind on paying their taxes. Some of the properties up for bid include assets that have been classified as public nuisances.

“Prior to the auction, the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector thoroughly investigates tax-deferred properties to identify interested parties,” Treasurer and Tax Collector Dan McAllister told the board ahead of the vote.

If the past is prologue, there could be deals.

Earlier this year, a one-bedroom condo in Pacific Beach sold for $480,100 with a minimum bid of $165,000. Other properties auctioned off in the spring sale included timeshares, which are being offered for as little as $100.

In total, 749 properties will be auctioned off at the upcoming auction, a five-day event starting March 14 and ending March 19. A list of properties and their characteristics can be found here.

Bidders must register before submitting purchase offers. Interested bidders can register here to be informed when registration opens.

The proposed auction is one of a handful of sales McAllister conducts each year to recoup property taxes that the owners have defaulted on paying.

For the individuals, trusts and limited companies that are registered property owners, the sales come as no surprise. All owners were made aware of the impending sale multiple times and in a variety of ways and were given the opportunity to object.

The number of properties for sale is the highest since 2018, county records show.

However, not all plots are likely to be sold. In most past auctions, some owners met their tax obligations before the sale; others remained unsold because they received no bidders and were not sold.

“Packages not sold in the online public auction may be re-offered within a 90-day period,” McAllister wrote.

The last public auction of tax-deferred properties took place May 17-22.

This sale had 297 parcels up for auction, but only 90 of them were purchased – a sales rate of 31%. Nearly 1,000 people registered as bidders, but 30 people purchased the properties, records show.

The May sale recovered just over $503,000 in unpaid taxes.

In March, an earlier auction offered 468 parcels but only produced 59 sales. But that public bidding brought in $3.6 million in revenue for the county.