Czeching out the Indo's Agenda

Remember property developer Owen O'Callaghan, last seen (allegedly) hiding in a broom closet and, more seriously, applying to the high court to prevent the Mahon Tribunal from reporting? Well, the Indo has a gentle piece this morning lauding the great man's "prescience" for starting up a development in the Czech Republic.


There's even an interview with O'Callaghan himself, who remarks that "During the Communist era, everyone rented their homes, but now around 45 per cent of Czechs prefer to purchase rather than rent. So, for the foreseeable future, prices can be expected to stabilise and hold current levels there."


Encouraging words that may have set off a goldrush in times gone by. There's one problem, though: they're not exactly accurate. The Czech statistical office announced just last month that the price of apartments in Prague (where O'Callaghan's new development is based) actually fell at the end of last year, marking the first quarter-on-quarter decline since 2005. The drop-off is small (1.7 per cent) but the esteemed gurus of bricks'n'mortar at Independent House would surely have known this. So why didn't they mention it?