If you’ve used Google today, you’ll have seen that it features a picture (a so-called Google Doodle) of a shower of meteors streaking across the night sky and … gulp! – heading straight for a defenceless house.

This is a reference to the Perseid meteor shower, coming to a night-time sky near you this evening - it should peak in the early hours (0100 GMT) of Wednesday 13 August, according to the Beeb.

But keep calm: this is not an oh-my-God-we’re-all-going-to-die-unless-Billy-Bob-Thornton-detonates-a-nuke-on-the-damn-thing kinda moment.

The meteor shower is made up of teenie tiny bits of full size earth-destroying meteor – it’s mere space dust burning up in our atmosphere, my friends, and definitely not apocalypse now – or even apocalypse very early tomorrow morning.

Which is just as well. Because if it was something bigger, it’s open to question whether your insurance company would shell out for you to rebuild your house.

I’ll grant you, insurance may seem beside the point what with life on Earth coming to an end, and all. But under-writers are nothing if not cautious – hence the fine print in some buildings insurance policies about Acts of God.

God in this case comes in the form of fire, flood, hurricane, earthquake, tidal waves – basically, anything outside of human control.

But it could also mean your neighbour’s tree falling through your roof  in a storm. So check the fine print before you sign up: God may do large scale acts of random violence but the Devil is usually to be found in the insurance policy detail!

While we’re on the subject – here’s Bill Bailey riffing philosophically on the subject:

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There are lots of house price reports out there but only one will tell you how much sellers actually got for their properties: the Land Registry’s sold prices data.

In their latest report (June), they revealed that prices in England and Wales have risen for the first time in over a year.

It wasn’t a massive rise by any means (0.1 per cent) but regional figures show that the housing market is starting to recover: London rose by two per cent, the West Midlands by 0.5 per cent, the South West by 0.4 per cent and the South East by 0.3 per cent.

The market revival is being driven by lower interest rates and by the fact that prices are now 17 per cent off their peak in January 2008, but they’re also being supported by low supply and strong demand.

Our own figures show that stock levels in the sales market are down over 20 per cent year-on-year, but demand is surging.

Traffic to FindaProperty.com hit an all-time monthly high in July, and agents report intense competition for a limited supply of properties.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is good news for sellers.

It’s a situation that won’t last forever, so if you are considering selling don’t hang about – at the very least, it’s worth getting a few agents in to value your place: you could be pleasantly surprised by what they tell you.

Need a valuation? Search for a local estate agent on FindaProperty.com.

The DIY continues apace and am starting to worry I may be the noisiest flat owner on the South Coast …

I have met a few of my neighbours who had seen the TV programme (embarrassing) and everyone seems really nice. Which is a relief. Just to be safe, I dropped chocolates round to my immediate neighbours to apologise for the noise.

I didn’t want to fall out with them in the first week as we knocked down the wall and fireplace and covered the hallways with a thick layer of dust from sanding down the walls.

I had a bit of a result with the freeholders this week. I want to move the kitchen to the other side of the room to make a nice open-plan space (no idea where the money is coming from for this but will worry about that later) and I had to write to them with a plan of what I wanted to do.

I was expecting a fight on my hands but they said yes which I was so pleased about. Had to pay them £200 but I guess the lease papers will need to be updated, so fair enough.

I wasn’t expecting that to be so easy! Getting a sky dish on the roof past the building agents is proving a little trickier! No-one can see a dish on the roof but I have been told it is a conservation area. I don’t think the person who has put a sky dish up on the roof without permission is going to be very happy with me for bringing this to the managing agent’s attention. Oops.

A recent report claimed that Turkey has what it takes to be a potential hotspot for property investors over the coming twelve months.

So, because holiday season is well and truly underway – and the much promised barbeque summer hasn’t quite materialised – we decided to have a little jaunt overseas to Turkey for this week’s Five to View.

And what an enjoyable trip it’s been, too. We’ve picked a mix of holiday-esque homes in a variety of locations, with prices ranging from “That’s amaaaazing value!!” to “Blimey, that’s a bit steep.”

Starting with the highest priced, here are our tasty Turkish delights*:

*(I know, I know, I’m sorry…!)

(click on pics for full property details)

1. 6 bedroom detached, Bodrum, £4,700,000

2. 5 bedroom detached, Kas, £1,200,000

3. 4 bedroom detached, Kalkan, £320,000

4. 5 bedroom detached, Fethiye, £305,000

5. 5 bedroom detached, Cesme, £289,000

Following our announcement last week that we’d experienced our highest ever Sunday traffic levels, we’ve only gone and broken another in-house record.

Our Research team have confirmed that the month of July 2009 saw more visitors coming to FindaProperty.com than ever before, with an average of over 3,900 visitors to the site every single hour!

The number of visitors is up 7.9 per cent compared to June 2009, and is a massive 21.7 per cent higher than a year ago, when an average of just over 3,200 visitors arrived at the site every hour.

This is encouraging news, as traditionally the summer months see a stabilisation in traffic, with levels often lower than those experienced at the start of a calendar year.

The record traffic levels we have seen in July buck this trend, and could be a sign that house hunters believe that now is a good time to move.

Recent analysis from our Research team also suggests renewed confidence about prices, with just 23 per cent of online property searchers expecting further house price falls.

FindaProperty.com goes on air and on the road this week with our ‘What makes a home?’ advertising campaign.

Below are the radio ads featuring James and Nina. Enjoy!

Rosie and Paul, David and Fiona, Michael and Sally

Amity, James, Rosie and Paul

James

Nina

Our ‘What makes a home?’ print ads will continue to run across the Metro, London Lite, the Evening Standard, Daily Mail and a wide range of regional titles.

You will be able to hear the ad on a number of radio stations including Key 103, XFM, Radio City, Heart, Wave, Century Radio, Real Radio and see the ads vans in Nottingham, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Newcastle and many other towns!

It seems that even in the property world, green is the new black.  Earlier this month, the Government announced the locations of the UK’s first four eco-towns which will feature affordable homes that use natural energy.

This was followed by news this week that Velux are to build the country’s first two carbon neutral model homes which they promise will adhere to the “highest of eco credentials”.

This is part of a wider project to build six “demonstration houses” in six different European locations between now and 2010, all of which will reflect three main principles: efficient energy design; high living factor; and minimum climate impact.

Well, we’re all for this new wave of environmentally conscious construction, so we thought we’d support the cause by going green ourselves - here is this week’s positively verdant Five To View:

(Click on pictures for full property details)

1. Shoreham by Sea

2. St. Agnes, Cornwall

3. Rye, Camber

4. Canterbury, Kent

5. Charvil, Berkshire

I’ve had the flat for almost six weeks now…where has the time gone? I know where…on DIY!

Completion day was nerve wracking. I was pacing the room waiting for the call, keeping everything crossed that there wasn’t going to be an unforeseen hiccup with the money but I eventually heard from my solicitor and agent (who mimicked a girlie scream down the phone) and I hot footed it over to the office to get the keys. My keys!

It was so weird going into the flat knowing that it was finally mine. It was an amazing feeling and I ran around like a hyperactive five year old for a little while and then got stuck in!

I have never worked so hard. I spent the next four days stripping wallpaper, lugging stuff about, making trips to B&Q, hammering the credit card and making endless cups of tea and sandwiches for my army of helpers (who I would have been lost without).

(with apologies to J. Howard Miller)

The hard work paid off though and the bedrooms and hallway were finished in time for the carpets to go down and lodger friend to move in.  Working until about midnight every night after a day at work was very tiring but worth it - it looks like a different place.

I’ve got so many cards and people dropping in to have a look and everyone loves it and says it has a really good feel about it. I even got a card from the vendor wishing me luck in my new home which I thought was a really nice touch … and flowers from the agent!

So life in the new pad is going great! I still love it and still really believe I did the right thing. Almost had a heart attack when the first mortgage payment disappeared out of my bank, mind, but I am trying to be really careful with my spending and enjoying life as a home owner.

Hope I don’t turn into a DIY bore …

Our research team have been busy scrutinising our traffic levels and tell me that on 26 July 2009 we broke the existing record for the number of visitors logging onto the site on a Sunday.

Last Sunday, we recorded an average of 113 visits every minute. The previous Sunday record was on 22nd February 2009 when FindaProperty.com averaged 110 visits per minute.

Traditionally, visitor numbers are strongest in January, but if the current trend continues we could see a summer surge that outstrips this year’s winter performance.

Why the recent pick up? It’s possibly a sign that people believe the market has bottomed out and that now is a good time to make a  move.

A related survey of users by FindaProperty.com shows that:

•    26% think prices will continue to fall

•    44% think prices will stabilise over the next six months

•    19% think prices have reached their lowest point

•    11% think prices are increasing