Profile: Greek IslandsApartments from €135,000, villas at €500,000 . . . a home by the blue Aegean sounds pretty tempting, even with the slog of getting there. Kevin O'Connor falls under the spell of the gods

Seamus Heaney was trawling the Greek islands when the gods beckoned him for the Nobel Prize for literature. For a man of classical mind, it must have seemed as if Aphrodite, Zeus and the overseers of imagination smiled upon him. From which I deduce the weather was good . . .

Travelling between these magnificent fissures of dry land that break into the blue Aegean, one can easily see why we invented the gods. How else to find unity and purpose on the merging horizons of land, sea and sky, unless they be watched over by a force more powerful than ourselves?

Looking at the extraordinary blue of the Aegean, the mind easily sensates into a mirage of possibilities. Drawn by the haze on the horizon, you fall for the Hellenic version of Hy-Breasal. You can walk on water, fly in the sky and land on soft earth.

Hence the watchful gods we invented to keep our feet on the ground.

These days, you can buy a substantial plot of island land, with a house already built, for upwards of €150,000. Must be a mirage, then. At those prices, you could go dizzy again. Throw in a quaff of the local retsina - from fermented grape skins - and you feel you have arrived in the lap of the gods . . . at least in property terms.

You are not alone. Thousands of British and Irish live here, some with holiday homes on these islands, others merged into the local habitat. A Co Limerick woman owns, with her Greek husband, one of the best restaurants in Chania, Crete. Writers Rory and Fionuala Brennan live the entire summer in the hills above the port. They brought up their family as Greek speakers, are adopted nationalists in their defence of their territory. Rory: "The local people are most honourable - good people I would trust with my life." It's a high claim, but not unusual among those who have made their homes here, whether holiday or permanent.

Greeks in their own country, free of Soho cliché, are a pleasure to know. Courteous, mannerly, with a hint of satire in their conversation. Think of the wise and witty schoolmaster in our part of the world and you have the comparison.

Not surprising, that some 'old money' Irish, coming here for years, sniffs at newcomers, wishing to preserve from the hordes their corner of paradise.

There is enough to go around. Though government has restricted building land, in order to preserve the vistas nature left, it has also dedicated EU funding to roads, ports, amenities, thereby opening up to others vistas for new homes.

Of the thousand islands, more are becoming accessible and therefore, habitable. Leptos Estates has identified what it calls "a vacuum in the holiday home market" and targeted northern Europeans with a yen for an island home.

The concept of the holiday home is "in its infancy in Greece" according to Paris Gabriel, director of Leptos, the Cyprus-originated company which has invested millions in land banks.

With a post-war generation in Europe literally being pensioned off, Greece is coming late to the market previously monopolised by Spain, Portugal and Italy. The upside for investors are lower start prices and expected higher capital appreciation, currently running at about 20 per cent per annum.

Gabriel ascribes the rapid take-up of properties to the kick-start which the Olympics gave to Greece's profile and the follow-on investment in roads and amenities. Leptos is rapidly building a range of homes, from villas at €500,000 down the scale of affordability to one-bedroom apartments at €135,000.

Most are close to the lapping Aegean, in dedicated clusters, in what was formerly scrubland or rocky island coast.

Stylish, mod-conned, blending with traditional architecture, Leptos has made it attractive to buy, facilitating 80 per cent mortgages on loan-to-value, fast-tracking the legal paperwork and - a decider for many - providing a modest rental income when the property is not owner-occupied.

What has taken the company by surprise - and is a barometer of domestic prosperity - has been the interest from native Greeks.

In Santorini, for instance, as colleague Philippos Hadjigerorgious notes, "we have sold many apartments and houses off-plan to Greeks, so we must be doing something right".

A major builder in Cyprus, Leptos's expansion in Greece is similar in foray to Irish builders in Britain, the originating island being too small for their ambitions. Now investing millions in the islands of Crete, Santorini and Paros, their product range meets the discerning needs of northern Europeans whose lifestyle - and new money - allows them to own a holiday home in warmer climes. And as anybody will tell you who has taken the plunge "you won't know it until you do it".

It does require an act of faith, a belief in your own capacity to weather the odd setback or two. Fortune favours the brave with a property illuminated by ancient seas and lazier ways and a hospitality gone from our part of the world.

The gods - and a bargain - beckon.