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The Greek islands have remained unchanged for centuries. As Zoe Dare Hall reports, sensitive, high-end properties are now becoming increasingly popular.

Kokkari, a fishing village on the Greek island of Samos, is an idyllic vacation destination, with its calm, turquoise sea dotted with waterfront bars leading to pebbled town streets. So is Samos Town, with the roofs of its old part of town so close together that it's rumored residents could jump from one to the other to escape being robbed by pirates. And there's the beautiful Havana town of Pythagoreo, birthplace of Pythagoras, and the picturesque mountain villages of Manolate and Vurliotes.

However, if you go to Samos, you'll be lucky to find someone to sell you a house. "There are hundreds of people on the island calling themselves estate agents," says Vasilis Louizos, a local property developer. But, Vasilis, how many of them have stores where you can go in and see pictures of properties for sale? He ponders. "Uh. One. Or two, if you count the one that's part of the pizza place in Samos Town."

And that's why Greek islands such as Samos retain an unspoiled beauty, especially on the undeveloped coastline where the hillsides drop down to the crystal clear Aegean waters. Despite being the third most popular country for British vacationers, Greece's close adherence to new development rules means the country has never experienced the same outbreak of resort house building as Spain, Portugal or France.

"Samos has a great climate, welcoming atmosphere and rich culture, with incredible ancient ruins located all over the island, and there are direct flights from the UK from May to October," says Robin Barrasford, chief executive of property and construction agency Barrasford & Bird. "But very few people know anyone who has bought property in Greece other than Crete, which is renowned for its more relaxed planning rules: for example, it allows building on the beach, whereas other islands prohibit building within 50 meters of the shoreline. "Also, in Greece you can only build a possession on 2 percent of a plot. This compared to 80 percent in Spain is inefficient in terms of the cost of building resort homes, because for a 100 square meter house you have to buy 20,000 square meters of land."

Now Barrasford is building Halcyon Hills, the only new resort on the island. But even he didn't succeed on his first attempt, which was a few years ago. "I flew in to meet the owner of the land, looking like a proper businessman in his stylish suit and carrying a laptop and briefcase. He told me to sit on a rock and just look at the view. When I suggested building a modern resort, he replied that he would not sell me the land," he says. "He felt it would destroy the natural beauty of the place, which had remained untouched for generations. So he offered me a drink of ouzo before I left empty-handed. But I always had in mind to go back and build something more in keeping with the natural environment - something the locals would support."

This may not appeal to the original owner of the land, but new Greek planning laws now make it easier for developers such as Barrasford to acquire it. This opens up access to property for foreign buyers. This doesn't mean that the Greek hills will now be lined with new Costa del Sol style apartments - planning laws are still too strict for that.

However, new laws, part of the government's program to increase tourism on the islands by 50 percent by 2013, allow developers to build on 20 percent of their land if they are in the vicinity of a hotel of at least four stars.

"The move to encourage the growth of exclusive tourism is a good thing for buyers when they decide to sell their property because, unlike some areas of the Mediterranean which are dotted with hundreds of similar properties, sellers here will not face much competition," says Mr. Barrasford. "We are also seeing surprisingly strong demand from Greek buyers, mainly from Athens, which is indicative of a strong local market. This is a good sign that the real estate market on the island is not an artificial bubble inflated by foreign investors."

Finding old country houses to renovate on Samos can be tricky due to the lack of English speaking agents to point you in the right direction, and prices are not as low as you might expect from the developing market. Samos Properties have country houses with land from around £115,000 including a two-bedroom house in Geraion on the south coast for £250,000. They also have a traditional two-storey stone house in Agios Konstantinos in need of renovation for £170,000 and a beautifully restored stone house in Kokkari for £310,000. A large house in the village of Mytilini, requiring general repairs, is priced at £25,000.

However, buying older properties can be a "surprise", warns John Batty of Aegean Blue. "We bought an old run-down house in Crete with the intention of renovating and regretted doing so," he says. "The main problem with buying property in all of Greece is securing a clean title because there is no organized land registry. We didn't have a certificate of ownership for our house, so we had to ask two old locals to swear that no one had lived there for a certain number of years. Most of the time this is not a problem, but sometimes there are situations where distant relatives suddenly appear and claim the house."

Buyers should check how the island fares in the off-season, given that direct flights from the UK stop between October and May, meaning the journey takes just one day, including a connection in Athens. "Samos is a big island with its own life outside of tourism, so it doesn't completely shut down in winter. Crete, Corfu and Rhodes are similar to Samos, they have year-round life," says John Batty.

While it's difficult to track the rise in property prices on Samos, as the market is still in its early stages, according to Savills, last year in Greece saw a double-digit price increase of 15 percent. "I believe Greece is one of the best places to invest right now," says Robin Barrasford. "It has natural beauty and good infrastructure, but it also has the potential to offer serious capital returns, unlike other markets that have been inflated by foreign investors. Greece has never allowed the construction of huge residential complexes by the sea, and that's its strength. The real estate market will never be oversaturated."