Property porn has long been a favoured topic in these pages and, at this time at year, there’s more to discuss than ever.

The sun is shining and dreams of days lounging poolside in Florida or in the grounds of a Spanish chalet are at the forefront of many of our minds, meaning other people’s big, posh holiday homes have been the subject of plenty of online searches.

Zoopla has obligingly released its countdown of the 10 most viewed international listings during July, a hotlist of homes that makes the Love Island villa appear on a par with the Devon holiday flat we’ll soon be visiting.

From the 20-bed turreted chateau in Lombardy, Italy – yours for £14m – to the six bed chateau with moat in Charente, France (£3.7m) these are the holiday homes that dreams are made of.

Most extravagant of all is the nine-bed, nine-bath castle in Cannes, which has a price tag just shy of £49m. Extras include a home cinema, wine cellar, independent caretaker’s apartment and panoramic sea views.

Of course, there’s nothing to show how many of the searchers are seriously interested in making a purchase – not many of us can cobble together tens of millions of pounds to invest in a holiday pad, however many lovely marble floors it may have (1,200 square metres worth in this case). It seems safe to assume that, more often than not, most of us are in it for the virtual thrill of living it up in luxury overseas.

Surprisingly, top of Zoopla’s list is a modest three-bed chalet in an Alicante golf resort, on the market for a relatively affordable £258,000. Perhaps there are some genuine buyers out there after all?

Having just returned from a weekend in a basic Airbnb in an affluent Kent seaside town, I’ve decided this is the way to make my fortune. Buying an okay flat within reach of all the attractions for a fraction of what you’d be expected to pay in posher parts of Herts, then renting it out for £150 a night might just be my key to property riches…