Quickstart

Prerequisites

An account. Sign up if you don’t have one.
An API key. See Authentication for how to create one.

Step 1: Get your API key

Log in to the dashboard.
Navigate to API Keys in the sidebar.
Click Create key, give it a name, and copy the key.

Step 2: Find properties in an area

Call POST /properties/area with a GeoJSON FeatureCollection. PropertyLayer returns every property whose parcel geometry intersects your polygon.

curl -X POST https://api.propertylayer.com/properties/area \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "features": [{
      "type": "Feature",
      "geometry": {
        "type": "Polygon",
        "coordinates": [[
          [-93.6250, 41.5868],
          [-93.6200, 41.5868],
          [-93.6200, 41.5830],
          [-93.6250, 41.5830],
          [-93.6250, 41.5868]
        ]]
      },
      "properties": {}
    }]
  }'

import httpx

API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE = "https://api.propertylayer.com"

area_response = httpx.post(
    f"{BASE}/properties/area",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    json={
        "type": "FeatureCollection",
        "features": [{
            "type": "Feature",
            "geometry": {
                "type": "Polygon",
                "coordinates": [[
                    [-93.6250, 41.5868],
                    [-93.6200, 41.5868],
                    [-93.6200, 41.5830],
                    [-93.6250, 41.5830],
                    [-93.6250, 41.5868],
                ]]
            },
            "properties": {}
        }]
    },
)
uuids = [p["bpd_uuid"] for p in area_response.json()["results"]]
print(uuids)

const BASE = "https://api.propertylayer.com";
const API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY";

const areaRes = await fetch(`${BASE}/properties/area`, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Authorization": `Bearer ${API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    type: "FeatureCollection",
    features: [{
      type: "Feature",
      geometry: {
        type: "Polygon",
        coordinates: [[
          [-93.6250, 41.5868], [-93.6200, 41.5868],
          [-93.6200, 41.5830], [-93.6250, 41.5830],
          [-93.6250, 41.5868],
        ]],
      },
      properties: {},
    }],
  }),
});
const { results } = await areaRes.json();
const uuids = results.map((p) => p.bpd_uuid);

{
  "results": [
    {
      "bpd_uuid": "a1b2c3d4-…",
      "geoid": "19153",
      "ownership": { "owner_name": "SMITH JOHN A" },
      "land": { "acres": 2.47 },
      "…": "…"
    }
  ],
  "count": 3,
  "limit": 20,
  "offset": 0
}

limit defaults to 20 and maxes out at 100. Page through larger areas with offset.

Step 3: Fetch full records by UUID

Pass the UUIDs from Step 2 to POST /properties/query using the in operator. One call returns all records, each with its tax assessor detail already attached.

curl -X POST https://api.propertylayer.com/properties/query \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "filters": [
      { "field": "bpd_uuid", "op": "in", "value": ["a1b2c3d4-…", "b2c3d4e5-…"] }
    ],
    "limit": 100
  }'

response = httpx.post(
    f"{BASE}/properties/query",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    json={
        "filters": [{"field": "bpd_uuid", "op": "in", "value": uuids}],
        "limit": 100,
    },
)

for p in response.json()["results"]:
    owner = (p.get("ownership") or {}).get("owner_name")
    address = (p.get("situs_address") or {}).get("raw")
    acres = (p.get("land") or {}).get("acres")
    value = (p.get("valuation_current") or {}).get("total_value")
    print(owner, "|", address, "|", acres, "ac |", value)

const queryRes = await fetch(`${BASE}/properties/query`, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Authorization": `Bearer ${API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    filters: [{ field: "bpd_uuid", op: "in", value: uuids }],
    limit: 100,
  }),
});
const { results } = await queryRes.json();
results.forEach((p) =>
  console.log(
    p.ownership?.owner_name,
    p.situs_address?.raw,
    p.land?.acres,
    p.valuation_current?.total_value,
  ),
);

{
  "results": [
    {
      "bpd_uuid": "c3dc1ad8…",
      "geoid": "06087",
      "identity": { "parcel_id": "04209215", "county_name": "Santa Cruz", "state": "CA" },
      "ownership": { "owner_name": "SMITH JOHN A" },
      "situs_address": { "raw": "152 SEACLIFF DR, APTOS , 95003-4443", "city": "APTOS", "zip": "95003" },
      "classification": { "land_use_description": "SINGLE RESIDENCE", "zoning": "R-1-4" },
      "land": { "acres": 0.099, "lot_sqft": 4312.0 },
      "building_summary": { "year_built": 1959, "bedrooms": 3, "baths_full": 2, "living_area_sqft": 1751 },
      "valuation_current": { "year": 2024, "basis": "assessed", "total_value": 1059906 },
      "cdl_majority_category": "Developed/Med Intensity",
      "fema_flood_zone": "X",
      "elevation": 32.0
    }
  ],
  "count": 1,
  "limit": 100,
  "offset": 0
}

Step 4: Read valuation and sale history

valuations is the year-by-year assessment history and transfers is every recorded sale the assessor carries. derived has the roll-ups.

p = response.json()["results"][0]

for v in p.get("valuations") or []:
    print(v["year"], v.get("basis"), v.get("total_value"))

for t in p.get("transfers") or []:
    print(t.get("sale_date"), t.get("price"), t.get("instrument_type"))

derived = p.get("derived") or {}
print("last sale:", derived.get("last_sale_date"), derived.get("last_sale_price"))

const p = results[0];
(p.valuations ?? []).forEach((v) => console.log(v.year, v.basis, v.total_value));
(p.transfers ?? []).forEach((t) => console.log(t.sale_date, t.price));
console.log("last sale:", p.derived?.last_sale_date, p.derived?.last_sale_price);

{
  "valuations": [
    { "year": 2024, "basis": "assessed", "total_value": 1059906 },
    { "year": 2025, "basis": "assessed", "total_value": 1081104 }
  ],
  "transfers": [
    { "sale_date": "2004-03-12", "price": 755000, "document_number": "2004-0015657" },
    { "sale_date": "1999-12-29", "price": 455000, "document_number": "1999-0080807" }
  ],
  "derived": { "last_sale_date": "2004-03-12", "last_sale_price": 755000 }
}

Sections are omitted when the county did not publish them, so guard your reads (p.get("land") or {}) rather than assuming every section is present.

Next steps

Query reference

All queryable fields and operators

Data fields

Full tax assessor field reference

Data fields

Full data dictionary

Flat files

Bulk data delivery for high-volume use cases

Getting started

Data

Delivery

AI integrations

Plans

Authentication

Prerequisites

Step 1: Get your API key

Step 2: Find properties in an area

Step 3: Fetch full records by UUID

Step 4: Read valuation and sale history

Next steps

Query reference

Data fields

Data fields

Flat files

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Get your API key

​Step 2: Find properties in an area

​Step 3: Fetch full records by UUID

​Step 4: Read valuation and sale history

​Next steps

Query reference

Data fields

Data fields

Flat files

Prerequisites

Step 1: Get your API key

Step 2: Find properties in an area

Step 3: Fetch full records by UUID

Step 4: Read valuation and sale history

Next steps