Newton County

Newton County sits at a median home price of $230,726 with year-over-year appreciation of 4.08%, and an affordability index of 81. The tool scores it 83 on appreciation and 0 on cash flow, which tells you almost everything you need to know about where this market sits on the spectrum: this is an appreciation play, not an income play. The cap rate and cash-on-cash return fields are zeroed out in the underlying data, and without a rent figure to anchor the income side, any cash-flow underwrite would be speculative. What the numbers do confirm is that Newton ranks in the 86th percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties scored, and 29th out of 92 Indiana counties, so while it is not an income machine, it is not an obscure or illiquid market either.

The appreciation score of 83 and a 4.08% price gain over the trailing year suggest this county is drawing buyers faster than inventory is responding. An affordability index of 81 means the purchase price is still accessible relative to local income, which historically is a precondition for continued price support: when affordability collapses, so does the buyer pool that sustains appreciation. At $230,726, Newton is priced meaningfully above neighbors like Howard County ($185,850) and Orange County ($182,101), yet it scores equally with both on overall score. That spread implies Newton is being bid up for reasons beyond raw income fundamentals. For a buy-and-hold investor, that context matters: you are likely acquiring into a market where price momentum is real but where rental yield may lag. This county makes the most sense for an appreciation-oriented buyer with a 5-to-10-year hold who does not need the property to pencil on day-one cash flow, and who can carry the asset while equity builds.

The economic context for Newton County is limited in the provided data, so no specific employer anchors or economy notes are available to weigh here. What can be observed from the demographics is a population of 13,829, which is a small county by any measure. Small population creates a thinner rental pool, which concentrates risk: a single large employer contraction or regional demographic shift can move vacancy rates materially in a market this size in ways that a larger metro absorbs more gradually. That is not a reason to walk away, but it is a reason to stress-test your absorption assumptions before closing.

On carrying costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance load on a $230,726 purchase comes to approximately $217 per month, based on Indiana's state-average effective property tax rate of 0.85% and an insurance rate of 0.28%. The property tax flag is classified as normal, which means it is neither a tailwind nor a material headwind, but $1,961 in annual taxes plus $646 in annual insurance is a real line item on your operating statement. One honest caveat the data itself surfaces: this is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county and township rates in Newton may differ. Pull the county assessor's figures before finalizing any underwrite, particularly if you are buying in an incorporated township where levies can stack.

The primary risks here are concentration and scale. A population of 13,829 means the landlord universe is small, tenant turnover can take longer to absorb, and rent growth is constrained by the local wage base rather than migration-driven demand. There is no vacancy or regulatory data provided, so no specific flag can be raised on those fronts, but a county this size in Indiana is unlikely to carry aggressive tenant-protection ordinances, which is a modest operational positive by inference from the market type, though nothing in the data confirms that directly.

Compared to its neighbors, Newton at $230,726 is priced near the middle of the peer group: above Howard ($185,850) and Orange ($182,101), below Whitley ($272,520) and Lagrange ($322,425), and nearly identical to Jefferson ($231,468). All five neighbors carry overall scores between 71 and 73, essentially matching Newton's 72. The one neighbor with rent data is Howard County, where a median rent of $1,005 against a median price of $185,850 produces a rent-to-price ratio of 0.65%, or roughly 7.8% annualized, which is meaningfully better on the income side than what Newton's price level would imply at a comparable rent. If cash flow is your primary objective, Howard County deserves serious consideration ahead of Newton on the available numbers. Newton earns the nod over Howard specifically when your thesis is appreciation and affordability support at a price point that has already demonstrated 4.08% annual gains, and when you are comfortable with the illiquidity that comes with a sub-14,000-person county.