* Expert sees strong second-half sales.

Small-business owners in New Jersey who want to sell are asking a median $250,000 for their companies, unchanged from a year ago, according to the website BizBuySell.com.

The businesses listed for sale on the site during the second quarter of 2012 have median annual revenue of $400,000, up from $384,800 in the second quarter of 2011, the website reported.

Nationally, the market for small businesses dipped in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, the San Francisco-based BizBuySell reported.

However, sales of small businesses have been recovering slowly since the recession ended in mid-2009, according to Mike Handelsman, general manager of BizBuySell.com.

“Based on what we have heard from brokers, as well as our own experience, we are expecting a strong second half for 2012,” Handelsman said. Small businesses are more attractive, because their revenues are slowly rising, and also because business owners are setting more realistic prices, he said.

Many would-be business owners have found it hard to get loans to purchase a company since credit standards tightened during the recession. Handelsman said there are signs that loans may be becoming more readily available.

A check of BizBuySell found a number of North Jersey businesses for sale, including a kids hair salon in Ridgewood, offered for $150,000; a West Milford deli and convenience store, offered at $450,000; and a 40-seat Fair Lawn restaurant, offered at $154,900.

Email: lynn@northjersey.com