GREENWICH is tipped to be entering a "golden age" by local estate agents and the Greenwich Trade Association.

Tony Dalton of Frank Knight estate agents, who sells multi-million pound homes throughout south London and Kent says house prices are rising faster than elsewhere in the capital.

Mr Dalton said: "Canary Wharf is the boiling pot of top-end earners. Docklands is beginning to boom and Greenwich, just six minutes away on the DLR, is feeling the positive effects.

"People look out of their office windows and see this lovely green area and think how nice it would be to live here."

Mr Dalton added: "Three years ago, Greenwich houses cost about half the price of equivalent properties in Richmond, but by last summer, a house in Greenwich was nearer 75 per cent of the Richmond price."

The average price of a two-bedroom house in west Greenwich is around £350,000 with three-bedroom properties averaging at £500,000.

Dalton believes the rising trend is set to continue with the Dome being turned into a sports and entertainment centre and the new HSBC and Citigroup building at Canary Wharf soon to be filled with staff.

He said: "We could see Greenwich entering a golden age rivalling its maritime past."

Spokesman for the London branch of the Estate Agents National Association Graham Harris said: "Anything with a waterfront is seen as sexy and will be in high demand. There has been a high uplift in value in Greenwich, because it has recently got the funding it has lacked over the years."

Manager of James Johnston estate agents Sarah Myford said: "The DLR has taken a little while to take off, but now people are moving to the area because of it.

"Supply and demand is a factor in the continuing steep price rises. There are simply not enough residential properties in Greenwich at the moment."

Chairman of the Greenwich town centre Traders Association Rob Toogood said: "We have been lucky not to have any talk of recession in the town centre, we have all seen lots of shoppers. There is a real buzz in the air."