Through the end of September 2026, the City of Ankeny issued 76 permits for new single-family attached and duplex homes. During the same nine months of 2025, it issued 255. That is a drop of about 70% in one year for the category that includes the lowest-priced new homes builders are marketing in Ankeny. In September 2026 the city issued no attached permits at all.
Over the same period, permits for detached single-family homes barely changed: 238 through September 30, 2026, compared with 249 in 2025. Ankeny is still permitting houses at close to last year's pace. Permits for new townhomes, twin homes and duplexes have dropped off sharply. The new attached homes you can tour this fall are a supply that isn't being replaced at last year's pace, and that affects how much leverage you have and how long it lasts.
The numbers behind the headline growth
Ankeny publishes a building permit report every month. When you put the September 2026 year-to-date figures next to 2025, the split is easy to see.
| New residential permits, Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family detached | 249 | 238 | About 4% lower |
| Single-family attached/duplex | 255 | 76 | About 70% lower |
| Multifamily buildings | 8 | 4 | Half |
| Total new dwelling units | 1,115 | 569 | About 49% lower |
The figures come from the city's September 2026 Building Permit Report. The attached category was already shrinking by midsummer. Through July 31, the city had issued 68 attached permits, compared with 243 a year earlier. Over the next two months it added only eight more.
The city also records a construction valuation for each permit. If you divide the total valuation by the number of permits, you get the average construction value per new home, which has risen in both categories:
- Attached/duplex: about $299,000 per permit through September 2026, up from about $260,000 over the same period of 2025.
- Detached: about $433,000 per permit through September 2026, up from about $397,000.
Permit valuation measures construction value. It isn't a sale price and leaves out land, so it doesn't tell you what a home will list for. What matters is the direction. The few attached homes Ankeny permitted this year carry higher average construction values than last year's, so the smaller pipeline isn't tilting toward lower-cost builds.
The townhome capital went into rentals
New townhome construction hasn't disappeared from Ankeny. The large townhome project announced this fall is a rental community.
The Business Record reported on Oct. 1, 2026 that Hubbell Realty Co. plans Marlow 35, a $46.8 million community of 200 rental townhomes on 16 acres at the northeast corner of Northeast Delaware Avenue and Northeast Ninth Street, just west of I-35. Construction was expected to begin this fall, with completion anticipated in early 2028. The plans include one- and two-story units, tuck-under garages, a pool, a clubhouse, a fitness center and a dog park. The same article said Ankeny's population grew 14.3% over the past five years and that its multifamily vacancy rate of 5.3% is below the Des Moines-area average. "There are large-scale plans for growth here and we want to be a part of it," Matt Weller, Hubbell's vice president of development, said in a prepared statement quoted by the Business Record.
A few miles north, the Business Record reported on Sept. 16, 2026 that Ames-based Haverkamp Group had broken ground on The Sloane. The 387-unit community sits on about 28 acres near the southwest corner of Northeast Delaware Avenue and Northeast 70th Street and will include apartments, stacked flats and townhomes. The announcement doesn't say whether those townhomes will be rented or sold.
None of these sources explains why attached permits fell. What the record does show is that a buyer looking for a new townhome in Ankeny two years from now may find more attached homes for rent than for sale.
What the current for-sale inventory looks like
Any new home on the market now was permitted months before it was finished, so today's supply likely draws heavily on the much larger permit count of 2025. As listed on builders' own websites in mid-October 2026, Ankeny's new attached homes fall into a few price tiers:
- D.R. Horton, Canyon Landing Townhomes, around NE Spear Lane: three-bedroom plans from 1,511 square feet, starting at $221,990, with listed homes between $221,990 and $234,990.
- D.R. Horton, Kimberley Crossing Townhomes, on NE 59th Lane: the same 1,511-square-foot, three-bedroom size, priced $239,990 to $249,990.
- Jerry's Homes, Deer Creek Rowhomes, on NE Winding Trail Lane off the E. First Street exit: two- and three-bedroom homes from $239,990 to $249,990.
- Greenland Homes, Village at the Grove, on NW Olivia Lane: twin-style ranch homes at $299,900 and $320,000.
- Jerry's Homes, Northgate, in north Ankeny: ranch townhomes listed at $379,990 and $429,990.
Builder prices and available homes change week to week, so treat these as a mid-October snapshot. The spread is the useful part. The lowest-priced new attached homes in Ankeny start in the low $220,000s, and new ranch-style attached homes can cost close to twice that.
Where the friction shows up in the contract
New-construction incentives in Ankeny this fall usually come with a condition. D.R. Horton's townhome pages show promotions for limited-time special interest rates and help with closing costs when buyers finance through DHI Mortgage, the builder's affiliated lender. The pages don't list a dollar amount or a specific rate. Destiny Homes, which builds detached homes in Ankeny's Centennial Estates, advertised $2,000 toward closing costs through a preferred lender on two homes priced at $474,900 and $492,900.
That condition is where your comparison work starts. An incentive tied to a particular lender is only worth its full value if that lender's overall terms are competitive, so buyers usually compare a written Loan Estimate from the builder's lender against one from an outside lender before deciding. If one of the five attached communities above appeals to you, ask the builder in writing what the incentive is worth in dollars and what it requires. This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Confirm loan terms with your lender and contract terms with a real estate attorney if you have questions.
The permit numbers also explain why timing matters. When a builder's sales pipeline isn't being refilled at the old pace, finished and nearly finished homes are what the builder has to sell this season.
The metro backdrop gives buyers room right now
The broader market adds to that leverage. The Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® September 2026 report covers the whole metro, not Ankeny alone, but the trend is clear:
- Active listings: 4,311 in September 2026, up 13.2% from 3,808 in September 2025 and up 5.2% from August.
- Pending sales: 840 in September 2026, down 16.7% from a year earlier.
- Closed sales: 1,087 in September 2026, up 4.8% year over year.
- Median days on market: 26 in September 2026, compared with 25 a year earlier.
- Median sales price: about $317,000 in September 2026, up from $310,000 a year earlier. The report's narrative gives $317,500 and its table gives $317,000.
"Inventory is up more than 13% from a year ago, closed sales have increased, and home prices continue to grow," DMAAR president Scott Steelman said in the association's September release.
More listings and fewer pending sales across the metro mean a buyer touring an Ankeny townhome this fall is competing with fewer other buyers than a year ago, and the builder's homes are competing with more resale homes. That is when asking about incentives, upgrades or a price adjustment is most likely to pay off. The permit data points to that window narrowing for new attached homes, because far fewer of them were permitted in 2026 to come up for sale later.
Questions buyers ask about this
Does a 70% drop in permits mean Ankeny townhome prices will rise? The permit data shows fewer new attached homes in the pipeline. It doesn't predict prices, which also depend on rates, resale supply and demand across the metro. What it does tell you is that the choice of new attached homes is likely to stay narrower than in 2025.
Is a resale townhome a reasonable alternative? With metro active listings up 13.2% year over year as of September 2026, resale attached homes are part of a larger pool of listings. Comparing a resale home's price against a new build's total cost after incentives is the clearest way to judge the value.
Will Marlow 35 add homes I can buy? The Business Record describes Marlow 35 as a rental townhome community managed by Indigo Living, with completion expected in early 2028.
If you're weighing a new Ankeny townhome against a resale home and want help comparing incentives, finishes and construction quality, Mauro Team can walk through the builder's offer and the house itself with you before you sign. Schedule your free consultation.
