Spring may steal the spotlight, but it isn’t always the smartest season to sell. Sure, more buyers are out there—but that also means more sellers competing for attention.

Winter’s a different game — with fewer homes listed, your house is more likely to catch buyers’ attention. That alone can change everything.

Winter Is When Your Listing Stands Out

History shows that the number of homes for sale usually dips in winter — a pattern that repeats nearly every year. Realtor.com data illustrates this: inventory falls in winter (see the green circles on the graph) and then climbs again as spring approaches.

Data from Realtor.com makes this pattern easy to see: inventory falls in winter (the green circles on the graph), then starts rising again as spring arrives.

Based on the latest data, that trend appears to be repeating in 2025. The chart shows the number of homes for sale is beginning to drop as we move toward year-end, and historically it tends to keep falling from here.

Here’s why being aware of this puts you ahead.

Inventory is up compared with the past few years, but it still hasn’t returned to the levels we saw in a typical market (2017–2019). With cooler weather approaching, we could even see listings drop slightly.

This is your chance. If you list with an agent now, you can sell while other owners are pulling their homes off the market — and get ahead of the bigger inventory that typically returns in the spring.

With fewer sellers on the market, your home will get more buyer attention this season.

Why wait for spring when you can beat the rush and list now?

Winter Buyers Are Serious Buyers

Another great benefit is that buyers house-hunting right now typically have to move.

They’re not just looking around for fun — they’re moving for a job, facing a lease that’s ending, going through a major life change, or simply ready to move sooner rather than later. As U.S. News explains: