Orange County Register

The sale of Orange County small businesses in July increased 5.4% both from a year ago and from June, according to statistics from BizBen, a Web site that tracks sales of small and mid-sized, privately owned businesses in California.

However, sales from January through July are still down almost 20% from the same period in 2007.

Here are BizBen numbers for July sales of Orange County businesses:

Statewide, July business sales declined almost 13% from a year earlier but managed an 8.6% increase from June. 

As for counties adjacent to Orange County, here’s their July performance:

• Los Angeles, down 37.7% from 2007, up 17.3% from June
• Riverside, down 50.4% from 2007, up 40.5% from June
• San Bernardino, down 26.4% from 2007, down 6.9% from June
• San Diego, up 47.9 percent from 2007, down 20.1% from June.

Generally, it’s a tight market in which to sell a business. Many would-be buyers cannot pull equity from their homes to buy a business, a common source of capital for the past several years. And lenders generally have tightened their requirements, making it tougher to get business loans of all types.

However, it is possible the market is showing signs of firming up in some markets if the uptick from June continues.

OTHER STORIES:

• O.C. businesses much more affordable than homes
• Sale of O.C. businesses fell 22.6% in first half of  ’08
• O.C. business bankruptcies soar 153% in April
• Small-business optimism hits 38-year low
• 50% of business sales fall through
• How many businesses sold in your city in 2007?
• O.C. business sales lead Southern California
• Local small-business loans plunge

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