Twelve months ago, area business owners seeking to sell and aspiring entrepreneurs looking for their own business to buy were still largely stuck in a slow post-recession market. That was the story in Johnson County and the rest of the metropolitan area, according to BizBuySell.com, a national online marketplace for small business sales.

Last month , the company released its data on small business transactions in the Kansas City during the first quarter. It shows a more robust market, based on listing data rather than actual sales results for 158 area businesses posted with BizBuySell. .

According to the data, the current median asking price of businesses for sale in the area is about $287,000. That is up from $235,000 in the first quarter of 2012.

In addition, businesses listed for sale in the area had median revenue of $448,000, up from $376,000 in the first quarter last year.

The median cash flow — meaning the money that comes out of the business over the year — stood at $94,089 at the end of March, up from $85,000 a year earlier.

“Many companies’ financials have recovered, making it easier to sell a business,” according to BizBuySell.

Nationwide, small business sales climbed 56 percent in the first quarter, with about 1,900 companies changing hands, the listing service said.