BizBuySell Insight Reports

Small Business Transaction Up 15% From Last Year, Reach Highest Levels Since Q2 of 2008

BizBuySell’s Third Quarter 2016 Insight Report shows 2016 on pace to have highest number of businesses changing hands since report inception in 2007; Active for-sale listings reach record high too.

San Francisco, CA – BizBuySell.com, the Internet’s largest business-for-sale marketplace, reported today that third-quarter small business transactions reached the highest levels since the second quarter of 2008, right before the recession hit. The full results are included in BizBuySell.com’s Q3 2016 Insight Report, which aggregates statistics from business-for-sale transactions reported by participating business brokers nationwide.

A total of 2,090 transactions were reported in the third quarter this year, representing a 15.2 percent increase from last year. This marks the highest number of small business sales recorded in a third quarter since BizBuySell first started tracking data in 2007. The 5,865 to-date transactions positions 2016 for a record breaking year of small business transactions.

As transactions have risen, sellers continue to supply the market with a high number of listings. The total number of businesses listed for sale in Q3 2016 reached a record-level and increased 5.1 percent above last year’s inventory. The strong listing count is possibly fueled by small business owners who waited out the recession and want to take advantage of this hot market, rather than take the risk associated with waiting. In fact, according to BizBuySell’s Buyer-Seller Confidence Index, sellers are slightly less confident about the future than they were a year ago, with just 48 percent believing they could wait a year and receive a higher price for their business.

Buyers on the other hand are less concerned about an economic downturn and are ready to jump into the action. According to the Buyer-Seller Confidence Index, only 29 percent of buyers believe they can get a better deal if they wait a year to purchase.

With both sellers and buyers wanting to act now, transactions are also taking place at a faster rate. A business sold in Q3 was on the market for an average of 171 days, a 4.5 percent decrease from 179 days in Q3 of 2015 and a steady drop from Q1 of this year when the average days on market sat at 188 days.

“With closed transactions reaching post-recession records, listings at an all-time high and time-to-sell data showing quicker sales, all indicators are pointing to a robust business-for-sale environment that is beneficial to both buyers and sellers,” Bob House, President of BizBuySell.com and BizQuest.com, said. “After a few years of strong, steady activity, it’s good to see there are still plenty of quality listings available for interested buyers to enter small business ownership.”

Full Report: BizBuySell Q3 2016 Insight Reports