Summer of 2001 me and my grandparents visited relatives in the US. Our stay first took us to Virginia for a week, before we were driven half way across the continent to the bustling small town of Newton, IA.
Over the years ive thought about going back, but not got around to it. But i figured id look the place up recently. Googling Newton, IA i got a rundown on the place. The Maytag factory, lifeblood of the community, shut down in the 00s as they moved to mexico or some other shithole. This left the people of Newton to face the recession already reeling. According to a reddit post Newton is known for being a place with nothing to do, except smoke weed and/or cook meth.
So how is the place doing now, must be a good place to score a cheap home being both a small town and not in the best economy
Looking up the house i stayed at in 01 on Zillow, its not currently on the market. Last listed in 2012 at 139k. It has over the last 5 years gone from a estimated 150k to now pushing 240k.
And its the same for every current listing in Newton, IA in the same price range.
This one was estimated at 100k five years ago, just sold for 239k https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/407-W-8th-St-S-Newton-IA-50208/86981175_zpid/
Estimated at115k in 2020, sold for 215k https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1015-W-3rd-St-S-Newton-IA-50208/86982395_zpid/
Sold for 75k in 2022, then 250k in 2024. Hell of a house flip it looks like. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/706-1st-Ave-W-Newton-IA-50208/86981045_zpid/
Im glad im not looking for a house in Newton, Iowa.
It's bad, but remember to take inflation into account. That's worth keeping in mind as far as raw numbers go. But it also doesn't make anything better, especially if wages aren't keeping up with inflation...that can actually make it worse.
Inflation alone makes 2012 139k into ~195k in 2025.
Which is almost more depressing. Home value barely rose at all, actually, but the ability for many to actually acquire it simply skyrocketed out of reach.
It's the worst of both worlds. We're all getting fucked hard by the government.
Meh, the housing market crash brought homes to an actual market value after hyperinflation of value. That same boom cycle is now supposed to be in a bust stage again but it’s being intentionally suppressed (again), the overwhelming majority of that inflation occurred post COVID. We’re talking 50-100k price increases in 3-4 years on the average home. When you top that with the mass wage stagnation that started under O bummer along with infinity immigration and corps mass home buying you have home scarcity skyrocketing while the average stem job pays 60-75% of what it did in the 90s (adjusted for inflation). We’re currently in an economic chokehold worse than the “recession” and young millennials and older gen z are going to have the lowest birthrate in the country’s history (aside from immigrants who are still being paid to move here and have kids under Trump).
I haven't seen that level of price increase in 3-4 years. It's increased, but for the most part, only with inflation. The issue is that the prices are far too high, it's impossible to build cheaper homes below $150k, tons of supply is currently being syphoned off by immigration, renting, investments, and Vrbo (or similar).
I'm not sure it will be possible to stop the price collapse as it starts. Once people realize they won't be able to make money out of renting or investments, people will start selling. That will collapse housing prices, and probably take the bond market and global economy with it.
That's why I'm not really worried about anything with tariffs. You could, in theory, grow out of this shit-eating-situation... but you'll need literal gilded age levels of growth, and it would require millions of people getting back to work and being productive.
In west Michigan the average 200k home in 2019-20 is listing at 340-350k currently. The national average is at least a 50k jump in most areas, over 100k in the larger growing economies.
I think it might fetch something like 100k more than that if it was listed. Anything that sold in the last year or two that I looked at went 100k over Zillows estimate of just a few years ago.
It's wild to see how sudden the price/value estimate spikes though.
Ah, good point.