Houses in my 3rd-tier (2.5th if we're generous) city in a painfully dull part of the country have appreciated ~30% in the last 2 years with no sign of slowing d

Houses in my 3rd-tier (2.5th if we're generous) city in a painfully dull part of the country have appreciated ~30% in the last 2 years with no sign of slowing down. We're not in the news. No tech giants have announced new campuses here. We're not, so far as I know, any kind of notable destination for ex-Californians. There's house and apartment construction all over the place and it sure doesn't seem to be hard to get more approved, unlike some places that report that housing's not being built. This during a pandemic that should have cooled the economy somewhat. WTF.