In winter, your home is one of very few new listings buyers see.
Buyers mostly compete over what just came on the market. From December through March, far fewer homes come on, while buyers keep going under contract. Relisting now puts your home in front of them before spring brings twice as many new listings.
Fewest new listings of the year from December through March
Here are the new listings added each month in Yellowstone County in 2025. Spring brings the flood. Winter is when a well-presented home has the field mostly to itself.
Source: Realtor.com new listing count for Yellowstone County, via FRED [1].
Buyers keep going under contract while few new homes come on
Compare homes under contract with homes newly listed each month. In winter, more homes go under contract than come on the market. In April and May, new listings pull ahead and buyers have more options to spread across.
| Month (2025) | New listings | Under contract | Under contract per new listing |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 126 | 153 | 1.2 |
| February | 140 | 202 | 1.4 |
| March | 192 | 219 | 1.1 |
| April | 308 | 288 | 0.9 |
| May | 324 | 302 | 0.9 |
| December | 120 | 195 | 1.6 |
Under contract is Realtor.com's pending listing count for the month [2]. New listings from [1].
One in five buyers in 2025 said they "did not have much choice, had to purchase" when they did [3]. Job moves, family changes and lease end dates don't wait for spring.
A fresh listing gets the attention
Buyers set alerts and watch for what's new. Zillow found that listings averaging five saves a day typically accept an offer within a week, while listings averaging under one save a day sit for more than a month [4]. When fewer new homes are competing for those saves, yours gets more of them.
The pattern holds year after year
In 2026, Yellowstone County added 160 new listings in January and 198 in February, then 284 in April and 308 in June [1]. The winter window opens again this year.
Why relist now
Relist and launch
Fresh photos, price and presentation. Your home goes live as one of the few new listings.
Fewest new competitors
Buyers who need to move see your home without the spring crowd around it.
The spring wave
New listings roughly double. Waiting until then puts your home in the middle of it.