House increase in price after sitting on the market and being listed for rent?

Is there a reason why a house would increase in price after sitting on the market? And does it mean that if you come in with an offer at the earlier (lower) price, it may be entertained?

I’ve been interested in a house, which was initially listed for around $1M in October of last year, then dropped to $980k in November. It was then listed for RENT for several months before being listed for sale again in February at almost $1.2M. Has been sitting on the market since with a recent price drop.

What does this mean? Is the seller price gouging? Would an offer at the lowest price listed last November be reasonable, or not?

Further background, the house is owned by a development company, not the previous occupant. They bought the place for 760k. I don’t understand. Even assuming they did renovations, it couldn’t have been in the past few months because the house was listed for rent continuously.