Business sellers in Orange and Los Angeles counties are asking more for their companies but there are few takers, says BizBuySell.com, a nationwide businesses for sale web site.
The median asking price in this region was $235,000 in the second quarter, 2.2% higher than in the first quarter and 4.4% more than a year earlier, according to BizBuySell’s records based on 3,666 listings from business brokers and owners who are selling their own businesses.
Here is the asking price trend (click on image for larger view):
Source: BizBuySell.com
Asking for more money seems to be wishful thinking; few are buying.
“Nationally, fewer deals are getting done,” BizBuySell reports. “Year-over-year, we are seeing a 50% drop in closed business-for-sale transactions. This is caused by many business owners deciding not to sell until the economy recovers, as well as by the challenges in getting a deal done in the market (e.g. difficulties in getting a bank loan for the buyer)
“Unfortunately for business owners who might wish to sell, this appears to be an accelerating downward trend. In Q1, the year-over-year decline was 36%.”
BizBen, a California businesses-for-sale web site, has been reporting monthly slowing of Orange County and California sales for many months. Most recently, the sale of businesses in Orange County dropped 49%.
Other deals stories…
- Out-of-town companies buy 2 O.C. firms
- O.C. college buys a trade school
- O.C. company buys its 10th business
- O.C. cancer drug maker raises $51 million
- Private equity investments hit 7-year low
- Veteran O.C. angel sees trouble for entrepreneurs
- O.C. company buys competitor
- State pension fund may hike equity investments
Other business stories…
- Who’s to blame for business losses?
- Calif. first-time jobless claims drop nearly 3,000
- O.C. missing from Fortune’s fastest-growing firms list
- Foreclosure backlog grows in O.C.
- Budget calculations slow talks in Sacramento
- No new manufacturing jobs anytime soon in O.C.
- Catholic group helps members find jobs
