With over $5.6 million in collected revenue, the San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office closed its first ever online auction by shattering previous auction records.

The auction, which took place from May 5 through 10, allowed pre-registered bidders to compete for over 1,500 properties. Over the course of five days of bids, participants made off with 343 properties, totaling over $5.6 million.

“This tax sale auction surpassed our expectations,” said San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister through a press release. “Not only did [hosting the auction online] help us save on operational costs, but it allowed us to sell far more properties than we have in the past.”

As dictated by California law, properties can be auctioned off to bidders if owners of land parcels do not pay their property taxes on time, this in order for the county to recover back taxes.

$2 million will be used to pay off back taxes and related fees. The rest of the total sales revenue will be processed as excess proceeds.

ONE MORE CHANCE

Registered bidders who did not get to participate or make off with any properties will have a chance to bid again.

The San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office still has over 1,000 properties to auction off, mostly timeshares.

The second online auction will open on July 21 and will end on July 26.