Home sellers in affluent commuter towns across southern England are having to accept their property may be worth up to £25,000 less than it would have fetched a year ago, according to new data from the property website Rightmove.
Haywards Heath in West Sussex, Maidenhead in Berkshire and Bath in Somerset are among the towns where the average newly listed asking price has fallen year-on-year, while some commuter hotspots further north are seeing prices rise sharply instead.
In Haywards Heath, the average asking price has dropped 4.8 per cent, from £484,527 to £461,066, a fall of £23,461 compared with listings a year ago. In Maidenhead, the average newly listed asking price has fallen by £22,991, from £594,677 to £571,686.
Sellers in Bath have also had to lower their expectations, with average new asking prices down £19,903, while in Leamington Spa in Warwickshire new listings are £12,735 lower than a year ago.
Commuter towns near Glasgow and Manchester buck the trend
Sellers in towns around Glasgow and Manchester, by contrast, are tending to price well above where they were a year ago. Many of these locations offer easier access to a major city at a lower price point than commuter hotspots in the south, and average asking prices have generally been more subdued in the cities themselves than in the surrounding commuter areas.
Falkirk in Stirlingshire recorded the highest price growth of all the commuter locations analysed, with newly listed asking prices up 13.5 per cent compared with last year. The typical home there is being listed £21,825 higher than in 2025.
Clark Gillespie, director at Forth and Clyde Property, said Falkirk was an attractive choice for buyers because it offered a combination of affordable prices and strong transport links.
"With multiple train stations and easy access via the excellent motorway network to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling, it's a practical option for commuters who want to stay connected to major cities while getting more for their money," he said.
"The area is particularly popular with families thanks to its well-regarded schools, and many buyers see it as a place where they can put down long-term roots, even if their job circumstances change. That mix of value, convenience and lifestyle continues to drive strong demand across Falkirk and the wider central belt."
Rochdale near Manchester has also seen newly listed asking prices jump by almost £20,000 in a year. One outlier is Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, where the average new home coming to market is £48,766 higher than a year ago, at £654,263.
'Two very different stories', says Rightmove
Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said the data highlighted two very different stories playing out across some of Britain's commuter markets. Rightmove found that 11 of the top 15 fastest-growing locations have average asking prices below £250,000.
"In the more affordable locations around Glasgow and Manchester, asking prices are rising strongly as buyers look for value within reach of major cities," Babcock said. "Meanwhile, some of the more expensive commuter hotspots are seeing prices ease, which could create opportunities for buyers who may previously have been priced out."
"For anyone considering a move, it's a reminder that looking a little further beyond the main city locations can often open up more options and better value for money."
North-south divide within the cities
Rightmove said a similar north-south divide was playing out within the cities themselves. Across the six cities analysed, average asking prices are up 2.9 per cent year-on-year in Glasgow, 1.8 per cent in Manchester and 1.4 per cent in Cardiff.
Meanwhile, prices have fallen annually by 0.6 per cent in Birmingham, 0.6 per cent in Bristol and 3.1 per cent in London.
The average price of a home coming up for sale in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London's richest borough, has fallen by nearly £100,000 in just one month, according to Rightmove. The average new asking price there was £1,552,970 in August, down from £1,648,148 a month earlier, a difference of just over £95,000.
