House prices are set to boom in the South causing the property divide to widen, according to a survey published today.

Figures predict property values in the South-East will have increased by more than 37 per cent by the end of 2005.

The cost of homes in the North, even in affluent areas like Chester and Harrogate, will grow at a much slower rate of up to 25 per cent.

Only two other areas in England are expected to have a property market which is increasing more than the South East in the next four years, the South West and East Anglia.

The findings, prepared for the consumer magazine Your Mortgage by independent data analysts, show property values in the North East and West Midlands will increase by less than a third compared with homes in the South East.

Andrew Stuart, editor in chief of Your Mortgage, said: "To the East and South house prices are set to storm ahead."

The survey used data from sources including the Land Registry, the Government and the Nationwide Building Society.

Its results appear to contrast with figures published last week by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showing house prices were rising faster in the North than in the South.