How much does it cost to build a house in Ames? The usual new home job filed with Ames is $350,000, from 163 priced permits (October 2023 through September 2026); the middle half of firms file between $289,652 and $606,500. A filed value is what the contractor wrote on the permit, not a quote or the final bill.
The usual new home job filed with Ames is $350,000, from 163 priced permits, October 2023 through September 2026. The middle half of firms usually file between $289,652 and $606,500. Half of jobs were filed for less, half for more. A filed value is what the contractor wrote on the permit, not a quote or the final bill. A new home permit here usually takes 263 days from issue to final inspection. How long permits take →
Approximately, from each firm's own spread: every firm's range of filed values, weighted by its 163 priced permits across 21 firms, pooled into one. Half of Ames new home permits were filed between $265,000 and $574,000.
| Percentile | Filed value | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $200,000 | 1 in 10 permits filed below |
| 25th | $265,000 | 1 in 4 filed below |
| 50th | $351,000 | the middle permit |
| 75th | $574,000 | 1 in 4 filed above |
| 90th | $816,000 | 1 in 10 filed above |
Firms split into thirds by the usual value of the homes they work on, with each third's usual filed value weighted by permits. Home values: Story County Assessor values (tax year 2026).
| Firms working on | Usual home value | Usual filed value | Firms | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower third | under $100,100 | $350,000 | 7 | 80 |
| Middle third | $100,100–$328,300 | $345,165 | 7 | 56 |
| Upper third | $371,500 and up | $900,000 | 7 | 27 |
Top 10 by permits in the last 12 months. Usual is each firm's middle filed value; middle half is the range its middle half of jobs were filed in; both are shown for firms with 5 or more priced permits. Busy is not the same as careful: pick what you value to build a list.
| Firm | Permits | Last 12 mo | Usual | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Res Builders | 18 | 17 | $200,000 | $200,000 |
| Valor Home Builders | 15 | 15 | $250,000 | $250,000 |
| Genesis Homes | 35 | 14 | $350,000 | $350,000–$372,500 |
| Hunziker Companies | 12 | 12 | $289,652 | $273,723–$299,883 |
| Happe Homes | 14 | 10 | $606,500 | $543,500–$697,500 |
| Caliber Homes | 14 | 8 | $900,000 | $800,000–$1,081,808 |
| HCS | 22 | 6 | $345,165 | $282,509–$390,484 |
| Prairieland Homes | 7 | 4 | $681,434 | $617,500–$997,500 |
| Heartland Custom Homes | 2 | 2 | — | — |
| Habitat for Humanity of Central Iowa | 6 | 1 | $250,000 | $250,000–$265,000 |
Line your quote up against the file. In Ames, 1 in 10 new home filed values sit under $200,000, the middle half between $265,000 and $574,000, and 1 in 10 over $816,000.
Ames files the fewest new home permits in July (22 against an average month of 100) and the most in August (199). If you can choose, ask for quotes in a quiet month. We have no prices by month, so this is about crews' schedules, not a discount. When each trade is busiest in Ames →
Source: City of Ames residential permits (one record per permit). The window is October 2023 through September 2026; a permit filed after that isn't here yet.
Usual is the middle permit: half were filed for less, half for more. Only permits with a filed value count; a value of $0 or none is left out.
The spread is approximate: we keep seven points of each firm's own range of filed values, not every permit, and pool them.
Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. How the records work in Ames →
New Home cost in other cities: Nashville Orlando Chicago Raleigh Cincinnati Cleveland Pittsburgh Miami Minneapolis Denver San Diego Colorado Springs Honolulu Boulder Greensboro Saint Paul Arlington, VA Scottsdale Cambridge Somerville Cary Mesa Naperville Bellevue Cape Coral Provo Palo Alto Bellingham Bend Denton Medford Elk Grove Wilmington, NC Bismarck Columbus, OH Sacramento County (unincorporated)
Other job costs in Ames: Deck & Porch · Remodel & Repair