Underwater Lot in San Francisco Up for Sale

Property in San Francisco for $250 is unheard of, but an interested buyer can scoop up a nearly 5,000-square-foot lot for cheap if they’re willing to put on a bathing suit.

A 4,996-square-foot lot near Candlestick Point State Recreation Area in the Bayview district is on the market for $250, the California Post reported. But there’s a catch: the piece of land isn’t above water. The property, listed on Zillow as “0 Bancroft Avenue Lot 17,” consists of nothing more than 5,000 square feet of seabed.

The rare underwater parcel presents a “unique opportunity for creative ownership and long-term speculative investment” for an interested investor, according to the listing. The submerged lot also could have “alternative uses” like “future waterfront positioning, possible boat docking considerations, environmental or recreational applications or strategic land banking within the San Francisco Bay Area.”

The listing noted that ownership of underwater parcels in major metropolitan markets are limited, making the $250 opportunity a steal for an interested buyer. There are no surveys or improvements currently recorded at the site, “allowing buyers flexibility to explore permitted uses subject to city, state and coastal regulatory agencies,” according to the listing.

Property at an eye-popping low price in Northern California is rare, but it isn’t nonexistent. The submerged parcel isn’t the first of its kind in the Bay Area, either. In 2024, an underwater lot in Alameda that was zoned for single-family uses hit the market for $400,000.

Last year, a cliffside lot in Carmel-by-the-Sea overlooking the ocean hit the market for just $100,000. Like the underwater parcel in San Francisco, however, it would be quite hard to live there. The unnumbered lot, spanning 4,200 square feet across the street from 26169 Scenic Road, has been legally barred from development for nearly a century. The “non-buildable lot” was designed “for the person who has everything,” enabling the buyer to “bring a folding chair and enjoy spectacular sunsets,” the listing read, according to S.F. Gate.

The underwater lot in San Francisco was listed May 6 and is available for purchase through Vantage Auctions.

— Chris Malone Méndez