You bought busted ass houses during the multinational housing market crash. At the time banks were struggling to offload massive inventory repossessed from people who could no longer pay whist they themselves were worrying about going bankrupt. There was very little in the way of credit available so you presumably bought them for cash which means that while everyone else was losing their ass you had more liquid wealth than most everyone. The last time this happened previously was the great depression.
To describe this as situations vary with location is to be completely full of shit.
Houses ARE cheaper in the boondocks where there are no jobs but this isn't a viable strategy for most folks.