Fewer small businesses sold in Q3, but the typical price rose

BizBuySell, the large US marketplace for businesses sold through brokers, published its third-quarter 2026 Insight Report on October 20. It counted 2,132 businesses that changed hands in the quarter. That is roughly flat on the second quarter and down 7% from the same quarter a year earlier.

The median sale price was $350,000, up 17% from a year earlier. BizBuySell also says market-wide cash-flow multiples rose 2.6%, but the release does not say what period that figure is measured against, so we are not leaning on it.

Confidence is the weaker part of the report. BizBuySell's buyer confidence reading fell to 49 and its seller reading to 47. According to the release, both have now declined year over year for two years running, the first time that has happened since the series began in 2013.

On the seller side, the report says three in four owners saw higher fuel and energy costs, 67% said inflation is not easing, and more than half said customers are spending more cautiously. Among owners who plan to sell, 27% said current conditions have them thinking about selling sooner than planned. BizBuySell's president, Bob House, described buyers as still in the market but more selective, with a focus on profitable businesses that hold up in a downturn.

One caution on reading the numbers: the data covers transactions reported by brokers, so it does not capture every private sale.