It is no surprise that buying activity (signing contracts, not closings) slows down over the Winter.  As shown above -- an average of 72 buyers sign contracts in January, which then jumps up to 90 in February, and then an even larger jump in March to an average of 130/month.

So, we're going to say the March is when we first seem a big jump in buyer activity.  For that reason, many sellers wait until March (or even April) to put their homes on the market -- though the Spring market brings more competition from other sellers in addition to meaning that we'll start to see more buyers.

Of note -- staying relatively true to form, there have been 75 contracts signed thus far in January 2018.  Who knows, maybe we'll come out slightly ahead?