House prices indexes are a bet, but according to My Mortgage magazine study Hammersmith and Fulham is a winning area. The study maps housing market up to the end of 2007. It shows that prices in Hammersmith and Fulham will increase by 9,7% in five years.

Only Richmond, with an average increase of 14.7%, and Kensington and Chelsea (10%) showed in the study a better prospectus compared with all London boroughs. What makes those areas more attractive than others? Riverside locations and good schools and transport, according to the magazine.

The study shows that, although house prices in Hammersmith and Fulham will keep falling during 2003 (-1.2%) and 2004 (-1.5%), from 2005 the area will recover by 0.5% in 2005, 4.3% in 2006 and 7.7% in 2007.

The study has taken a range of economic data from a number of sources. Key information includes Gross Domestic Product, inflation forecasts and interest rates from a range of City analysts. Demographics, including regional and national population trends and shifts are included, plus employment forecasts as well as current and projected individual income levels. Current and expected levels of housing stock are in the mix, overlaying historic houses prices from the Land Registry.

But the forecasts have been prepared for local authority areas, which means that prices increase will vary at street level. Proof of that is that house prices in Hammersmith, Shepherd's Bush and White City, all in Hammersmith and Fulham borough, have been changing at different pace, according to Land Registry quarterly reports (in £):

Land Registry Web site

Your Mortgage Property Price Predictor