Sicily lures Brits looking to buy

SICILY and Sardinia are heading the rise in destinations where Britons are looking to buy property overseas.

Property website Rightmove said worldwide site searches last month had increased 73 per cent on April 2009.

Sicily saw a 115.31 per cent leap in searches and Sardinia went up 31.3 per cent, while the Italian regions of Lazio, Campania and Liguria also showed increases.

But Britons looking to spend time in the sun abroad appeared to turn a cold shoulder towards property in far-off places: interest in the Australian states of Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia all decreased last month.

Foreign exchange company Moneycorp said there had a 62.5 per cent drop in inquiries for Australian properties.

Rightmove's overseas head Robin Wilson said: "It's exciting to see search volumes picking up as it seems Brits are coming back to overseas property.

"There's no doubt that absolute traffic volumes are down on the bubble peaks of 2007-8, but there's a groundswell of consumer confidence, and a resolve among serious lifestyle buyers to put into practice the purchase plans they put on hold last year."