ByBrandon Kochkodin,
Forbes Staff.
A strong market for small-business sales cut through the noise of the Trump administration’s tariffs during the third quarter of this year. Buyers pushed ahead while many owners chose to cash out before more political surprises–including the current government shutdown– could throw a wrench in the market.
According to BizBuySell, an online marketplace that tracks U.S. business sales, closed transactions rose 8% year-over-year and 11% from the prior quarter. Buyers are acting fast: The typical business sold in just 149 days, the shortest turnaround since 2017 and down from 176 days the quarter before. Yet prices slipped. The median sale price fell 2% from a year earlier and 9% from Q2 to $320,000. Sellers may be lowering expectations to move before conditions worsen. Owners cite higher costs from tariffs and inflation, with more than half reporting that trade policy has increased expenses.
The fourth quarter is likely to be a different story when it comes to sales volume. The trade fight with China is heating up again, fueling uncertainty, and the government shutdown has frozen approval of loans backed by the Small Business Administration, which fuel many small-business deals.
