February Business For Sale Transactions Down Slightly From January Says BizBen Index

  DUBLIN, CA - 03/18/2017 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

California business for sale transactions were down slightly in February compared to the previous month. The number of business for sale transactions in February was 1,373 compared to the 1,378 that were completed in January it was reported by the BizBen Index. The number of transactions completed so far this year are down 4% compared to the first two months of 2016.

"The fact that business for sale transactions are down this year compared to last shouldn't be too much of a surprise." said Peter Siegel, MBA, Founder and President of BizBen.com, parent of the BizBen Index.

Siegel continued, "Last year was a record year. We haven't seen that number of transactions since 2008. Frankly, I wasn't sure we would see numbers like we had in 2008 again given the way the economy and lending practices have changed since the Great Recession. I think the fact that sales are relatively flat compared to last year isn't necessarily a bad thing”

Other reasons for the slight decline according to Siegel, might be related to the uncertainty of future tax policy coming out of Washington and whether or not the Fed would raise interest rates in March.

Siegel explains, “While the people on Wall Street seem to be pretty confident that President Trump will be able to push through the tax reform he wants, potential buyers may not be as confident and that may be causing some hesitation. On the flip side, sellers may be holding off on selling waiting to see if they can save money if and when the President's tax cuts come to fruition. However, given that the fundamentals of the economy look strong I expect sales to remain strong throughout the year.”

Larger Counties With Improved Sales

Among large California Counties reporting a growth in the sale of small and mid-market businesses last month are Los Angeles County with 387 transactions up from 365, Orange County posting 144 completed business transfers last month compared with 123 in February and San Francisco County with 61 last month compared to 51 the previous month.

The total business sales by county recorded last month, available at http://www.bizben.com/stats/stats-monthly-feb.php are:

Alameda: 84, Amador: 2, Butte: 9, Contra Costa: 21, El Dorado: 1, Fresno: 33, Humboldt: 1, Imperial: 4, Kern: 42, Los Angeles: 387, Marin: 6, Mendocino: 6 , Merced: 1, Monterey: 10, Napa: 4, Nevada: 8, Orange: 144, Placer: 20, Riverside: 65, Sacramento: 52, San Bernardino: 45, San Diego: 117, San Francisco: 61, San Joaquin: 37, San Luis Obispo: 11, San Mateo: 21, Santa Barbara: 17, Santa Clara: 48, Santa Cruz: 4, Shasta: 6, Solano: 11, Sonoma: 23, Stanislaus: 7, Tulare: 9, Tuolumne: 1, Ventura: 41, Yolo: 7

Sales totals posted by California county over the last nine years are available at: http://www.bizben.com/stats/stats-total.php

The BizBen Index has been collecting and reporting information about small California business sales for 17 years, to help business owners/sellers, buyers and the professionals participating in this market make informed choices and achieve success. Sources for the information come from California's Secretary of State office and other government agencies.