DUBLIN, Calif. - Santa Barbara County business sales are up as the year draws to an end. For the year, the county is close to breaking the 200 sold mark.
According to the "BizBen Index" Santa Barbara County recorded 14 sales of small and mid-sized business last month, a 27% increase compared to the 11 transactions completed in October 2012, according to the BizBen Index, which tracks and reports sales volume in the state's market for small business for sale transfers. The company also announced that the 183 county businesses sold so far in 2012, represent the best deal volume since 2009, when 211 transactions were completed over the first 11 months.
"Along with the improved Santa Barbara County numbers, the statewide business sales count was 1,022 last month, an increase of more than seven percent over the 952 deals recorded throughout California during November of last year," said Peter Siegel, MBA, Founder and President of BizBen.com, parent of the BizBen Index.
"It's encouraging to notice the improvement in business transfer activity because it suggests the market is starting to recover from the slowdown we've experienced over the past four years."
The BizBen Index tally of county sales shows that the city of Santa Barbara registered seven deals during the month. Three of the county's transactions involved Santa Maria businesses.
Siegel said the California-wide total of business sales so far this year, at 13,084, shows a drop of about 34% compared to the count of 19,885 deals recorded in the first 11 months of 2008. "After 2008 the business for sale market began to suffer the full impact of the banking crisis and the recession.
"A 34% drop in activity means at least one third fewer people were able to buy a business in each of the last four years, even though there has been increased demand for small and mid-sized businesses in the state. Behind the demand pressure are thousands of Californians who've decided that owning their own company is a better long-term financial plan in this economic environment than working for someone else.
"And for every buyer unable to succeed in this market there is a business owner who was unable to sell. So one third fewer sellers managed to conclude a deal, despite a growing market of companies being offered by the several thousand baby boomer owners who are ready and eager to retire, and need to sell in order to help fund that retirement."
Siegel noted the business sales rate in the country's largest state is a key economic indicator. "The fact that we're starting to see an increase in the number of successful deals, tells us that people are learning to adapt to the changes in the business for sale market--a market that has been significantly impacted by the New Economy."
Santa Barbara County business sales figures, reported by city through the first 11 months of the year (found at: http://www.bizben.com/stats/santa-barbara-county.php) are:
Goleta: 12, Santa Barbara: 80, Carpinteria: 4, Lompoc: 20, Santa Maria: 39, Buellton: 6, Los Alamos: 1, Santa Barbara (Montecito): 1, Solvang: 12, Santa Ynez: 3, Guadalupe: 2, New Cuyama: 2, Orcutt: 1
The California totals for November by county are noted below. More complete sales information by California counties and cities for the past five years, supplied by the BizBen Index, can be found at http://www.bizben.com/stats/stats-monthly-nov.php
Alameda: 62, Amador: 3, Butte: 5, Contra Costa: 29, El Dorado: 6, Fresno: 22, Humboldt: 2, Imperial: 6, Kern: 10, Lake: 1, Los Angeles: 306, Marin: 1, Marion: 1, Mendocino: 2, Merced: 1, Monterey: 14, Nevada: 6, Orange: 101, Placer: 13, Riverside: 31, Sacramento: 24, San Bernardino: 54, San Diego: 89, San Francisco: 18, San Joaquin: 14, San Luis Obispo: 7, San Mateo: 20, Santa Barbara: 14, Santa Clara: 57, Santa Cruz: 12, Shasta: 3, Solano: 8, Sonoma: 28, Stanislaus: 16, Sutter: 4, Tehama: 1, Tulare: 6, Tuolumne: 1, Ventura: 19, Yolo: 4
The BizBen Index figures, showing the sales rates by city and county throughout the state for the past five years are accessed at http://www.bizben.com/stats/stats-total.php
