Here's the stat that reframed the whole month for me. In Ankeny's largest ZIP, roughly 69% of homes are now closing for less than the seller asked. Nearly seven out of ten. A year ago that conversation barely came up — today it's the conversation. And yet the right homes are still going under contract in about two weeks. Both things are true at once, and the gap between them is the entire Central Iowa housing market story this June.
So let me untangle it. Prices have flattened, inventory has climbed into balanced territory, and the market has quietly split into two lanes: priced-right homes that move fast, and everything else that sits. Here's the full read — and what I'd actually do on either side of the table.
For the first time in a couple of years, the word that fits the metro is balanced. The Des Moines metro is carrying somewhere between roughly 3,000 and 3,800 active listings depending on whose count you read, with about 3.3 months of supply on the board. That's not a buyer's market and it's not the seller's market of 2022 — it's the rare middle ground where both sides actually have to negotiate.
The price picture is split by geography. Ankeny's median sale price sits near $340,000, down about 2.9% year over year. Step out to the statewide view and it flips: Iowa's median rose 2.4% in May, with the typical home selling in 38 days — four days faster than a year ago. The state is tightening while our corridor catches its breath. Read only the statewide headline and you'd misjudge Ankeny entirely.
But the number that matters most isn't price — it's the spread between how fast a good home sells and how long an ordinary one lingers.
| Metric | Current | YoY / Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ankeny median sale price | ~$340,000 | -2.9% (Redfin, 3 mo. through May) |
| DSM metro median sale price | ~$319,000 | Iowa statewide +2.4% |
| Metro active listings | ~3,000–3,800 | Rising |
| Metro months of supply | ~3.3 | Up — balanced territory |
| Iowa median days on market | 38 | -4 days YoY |
| Ankeny median days to pending | 14 (50023) / 19 (50021) | Priced-right homes move fast |
| Homes selling below list (50023) | 69.3% | Up — buyer leverage (Apr 30) |
| Metro sale-to-list ratio | ~98.6% | Sellers netting just under ask |
| New listings / closed sales counts | Data unavailable — recommend pulling from MLS | — |
The clearest two-lane market in the metro. Median sale price near $340,000, down 2.9% — but well-priced, move-in-ready homes are still going pending in about two weeks. The catch is the tail: overall time-to-sale has stretched toward 60-plus days once you fold in the listings that need a price correction. Nearly 69% of closings came in under asking. Translation: buyers are showing up, but they're disciplined, and they're winning on price.
Still the steadiest corner of the corridor. Median price around $325,000, essentially flat year over year (-0.06%). Iowa State is the anchor tenant, and a university town doesn't swing the way the suburbs do — demand stays even through the cycle. Prepared buyers here still need to move with intent.
The price ladder, roughly: Waukee $350K–$395K, West Des Moines $320K–$375K, Johnston in the mid-$330Ks and up, and Urbandale the relative value play at $270K–$310K. New-construction and move-up inventory in the western suburbs takes time to clear, which is part of why metro supply has climbed. If you're shopping the suburbs, you have more to choose from than you did last spring.
Your leverage is real this June — but it's about price, not pace. With nearly seven in ten Ankeny homes closing below list and supply in balanced territory, you have room to negotiate, ask for concessions, and skip the bidding wars of two years ago. What you don't have is permission to be slow on the good ones. The well-priced, move-in-ready home still goes pending in about two weeks.
For first-time buyers, that's the whole playbook: get fully pre-approved now, then move decisively when the right home hits — and negotiate hard on anything that's been sitting 30-plus days, because that seller is genuinely motivated. Pre-approval isn't paperwork; it's your negotiating position the moment a deal appears.
Price to this month's comps, not last spring's peak. When 69% of homes are selling under list, the market is telling you exactly where buyers draw the line. Overprice by even a little and you join the slow lane — the listings that sit 60-plus days and eventually cut, which signals weakness to the next buyer. Price it right and present it well, and you're in the fast lane that's still going pending in two weeks.
The right move is to get the list price honest on day one. In a balanced market, your pricing and your prep aren't part of the strategy — they are the strategy.
This is the market I keep nudging people toward — peer to peer, because I do this myself. Flat-to-softer prices, more inventory, and sellers netting just under ask mean owner-occupant house hackers can finally write offers where the math has a chance to pencil. The price points I'd watch: $275K–$375K duplexes and four-bedroom single-family homes in Ankeny and eastern Polk County, where a motivated seller and a patient buyer can actually meet in the middle.
I won't pretend it's passive income or promise a return — being a live-in landlord is real work, and the numbers have to clear on their own merit. But with FHA's low down payment on owner-occupied multi-units and sellers more willing to negotiate than they've been in two years, the cash-to-close math is the friendliest it's been in a while. Run the numbers honestly. If they work, this is your window.
Central Iowa in late June 2026 is a balanced market wearing a disguise. The headline — nearly 7 in 10 homes selling below list — looks like a buyer's market, and on price, it mostly is. But the two-week pending times on the right homes say sellers who price honestly still win fast. The one thing to remember: this market rewards discipline on both sides. Buyers, negotiate on the homes that sit; move on the ones that don't. Sellers, price it right out of the gate. Questions about your specific neighborhood, or whether your house-hack numbers actually work? I'm a text or a call away — no pressure, no pitch, just the straight read.
Jackson Krile is a residential and investment real estate specialist with the Flanders Team at RE/MAX Real Estate Center, serving Central Iowa including Ankeny, Ames, Johnston, Urbandale, and 20+ surrounding communities. Questions about the market? Reach out directly.
Data sourced from Redfin (Ankeny, Ames, Iowa statewide — trailing three months through May 2026), Zillow (Des Moines and Ankeny ZIPs 50023 & 50021 — April 30 & May 31, 2026), Movoto (Ankeny — May 2026), and Smart Move Des Moines DMAAR data (May 1, 2026). Accessed June 22, 2026.
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