Donald Trump is favourite to be the next president.

The chances that the Republican candidate will beat Hillary Clinton are now around 54 per cent, according to the New York Times. His forecasts have been surging recent hours as he looks to win far more of the electoral college than had previously been expected.

It marks the first time that Mr Trump has ever been in the lead in the New York Times' Upshot tracker.

(New York Times/The Upshot (New York Times/The Upshot)

The paper still predicts that the electoral college will be incredibly close, with as many as one or two votes between them. It's entirely possible that the election will come down to a tie, according to the New York Times predictions.

Ms Clinton is still expected to take the popular vote, by as much as two or three percentage points. But that won't matter if Mr Trump takes more votes in the electoral college, as the paper predicts.