Palm Beach County sold $99.6 million worth of delinquent taxes in an auction this week. The county ran an online sale attracting almost 2,500 investors from around the world. Investors pay the late bill to the county on the delinquent taxes they purchase, then file a first lien on the subject property, which takes priority over most loans, including mortgages. [more]

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are moving toward eBay-style online foreclosure auctions with a hope that it can speed up the selling process and reduce the distressed property glut.

Miami-Dade went live with its Web site Monday and plans its first auction for Jan. 11. Palm Beach County has scheduled its first online auction Jan. 21. And Broward is working toward a February launch. in November 2008.

The online auction system is designed to open up the bidding process to anyone with Internet access. With more bidders and a more efficient system, officials hope to push through the backlog of foreclosures faster than holding the traditional auctions at county court houses. And getting through that glut is a necessary step for the residential real estate market to recover. [more]

Miami-Dade next week will become the latest Florida county to begin online auctions of foreclosed condominiums. As of Dec. 7, it will be the 12th and largest county to set up such a system to clear out a backlog that’s become too much for officials and staff to handle in person. About 7,000 properties in the county fall into foreclosure each month. Lloyd McClendon, CEO of RealAuction.com, which runs these county auctions across the state, claimed about 11,000 bidders were registered for Florida. One even registered from New Zealand. [NYT]