Cougar, WA 98603 housing market
Data through Aug 2026 · Balanced market · leverage 88
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Home Value
$556,253
+4.2% vs. a year ago
Buyer Leverage Score
88
Sep 2026
Months of Supply
5.9 months
Aug 2026
Days on Market
72 days
Sep 2026
Price Cut %
73%
Sep 2026
Sale-to-List Ratio
99.1%
Aug 2026
Mtg Payment as % of Income
51%
Aug 2026
Overvalued %
87%
Aug 2026
Expected Disaster Loss
$292
Dec 2025
What this means
- Valuation. Prices are 87% above what local incomes have historically supported (this area's pre-2020 price-to-income ratio).
- Prices. Home values are up 4.2% over the past year (U.S.: +1.2%).
- Supply. There are 267% more homes for sale than the 2017-19 norm and falling (−15% vs. a year ago), so buyers have more to choose from than before the pandemic.
- Negotiating. Buyer leverage is high (88/100; U.S.: 54): homes sell for about 0.9% below their final list price; 73% of listings had a price cut (U.S.: 26%).
- Affordability. A mortgage on the typical home takes 51% of the median household income (U.S.: 35%); it takes about $134k a year to keep the payment at 30% of gross pay. That includes about $1,357 a year for home insurance (U.S.: $1,790).
- Disaster risk. FEMA expects about $292 a year in natural-disaster damage per $100k of building value (U.S.: $155), mostly from flooding. Flood isn't covered by standard homeowners insurance.
- Outlook. No clear direction: likely −7% to +9% over the next 12 months (65% chance of a rise).
Next 12 months
No clear direction
A rise is somewhat more likely than a fall, but not by enough to call. Likely change: −7.1% to +9.3% (80% range; middle estimate +2.2%), chance of a rise 65%, of a 5%+ drop 14%.
HouseVane's model, refit every month on local market signals and national ones, trained only on data known at the time. How accurate it has been.
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Other ZIP codes in Cowlitz County, WA
| Area | Home value | 1-year change | Buyer leverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longview, WA 98632 | $385.9K | −0.1% | 53 |
| Kelso, WA 98626 | $387.5K | −0.2% | 49 |
| Woodland, WA 98674 | $588.2K | +1.8% | 90 |
| Castle Rock, WA 98611 | $478.8K | +1.1% | 84 |
| Kalama, WA 98625 | $541.4K | 0.0% | 82 |
| Silverlake, WA 98645 | $482.2K | +0.2% | 65 |
| Toutle, WA 98649 | $500.1K | +2.6% | 96 |
| Ryderwood, WA 98581 | $265.7K | −1.6% | 30 |
| ZIP 98609 | – | – | 13 |