Remember when the winter months were considered slow ones for the housing market? Well, that is changing.

A new report from realtor.com says that January of 2020 will be a busy one for online home listings. According to the report, a surge of buyers will start the new year by visiting online home listings, giving their search for a new condo or single-family home a jumpstart.

According to the report, last year one out of every five of the largest metropolitan areas in the country saw their highest number of online listing views come in January of 2019.

This is an interesting change. The association said that in 2015, the peak month for average online views per listing on realtor.com was April. Peak views were 16 percent lower in January of that year than they were in April.

In 2019, though, January was just 1 percent behind February for the most monthly views per listing at realtor.com. January also saw the greatest number of monthly views in 20 of 100 large metro areas last year.

The association said that for the Chicago area, February saw the greatest number of online views per home listing. January was second, with the average number of views per online listing just 3 percent lower than in February.

What’s behind this trend? The association says that shoppers are beginning their search for homes earlier because the housing market has become more competitive. By starting their research earlier, buyers hope to gain an edge.

This is important news for home sellers. Sellers need to be prepared to list their homes early in the year if they want to sell them in 2020. It’s the best way to capture the greatest number of eyes on their online home listings.