Katy, Texas, offers good schools, lots of new homes, and an easy commute into Houston, say local Realtors.

"Katy offers a small town feel within commuting distance to Houston," says Realtor Deanna Collier. "Katy is a small tight-knit community within reasonable driving distance of Houston. With the summer heating up, so is the market and prices are up just a hair compared to the first of the year. A shift has occurred within the last couple of weeks to a more neutral market. We've seen more activity and less time on market for most homes. With an average three percent increase in values over the previous year and Katy's outstanding schools, it's is a great investment."

Says Realtor Ruhina N. Ahmed, "Katy is a fast-growing area located about 22 miles west of downtown Houston. It has homes from all price ranges and new master-planned communities are coming up all the time offering a lot of amenities for recreation. Katy ISD has a lot of good schools. It is also a home to Katy Mills outlet."

Ahmed explains, "Katy is a very nice area to live in with affordable beautiful houses in all ranges still available for buyers.There are more houses to choose from as new communities are coming up and, of course, resale homes are also available. Buyers and sellers both have advantage of this due to the fact that Katy is rapidly growing but still the homes have their value. Most of the Katy area is filled with green trees lined along the roads and gives a very beautiful suburban like appeal. The interest rates are still low still they are affordable and with new master-planned communities coming up in this area there are still very good homes available with plenty of choices. With July here, the best homes are going fast.It is still a buyer's market since there are a lot of homes to choose from, and also new homes inventory has lot of choices and lots of incentives for the buyer still available although good homes are going very fast."

About the market, Ahmed advises, "Total sales for single-family homes in Houston increased by 19.9 percent to 6,396 in May, up from last year's 5,334. In the first five months of 2005, 24,463 single-family homes sold, which was an 8.3 percent increase over the 22,579 homes sold during the same period in 2004. Existing single-family home sales increased almost 19 percent compared to May 2004."

"Katy portrays a lovely way to enjoy a safe, friendly, family environment while being close to the big city to value the cultural diversity, entertainment, and business opportunities that go along with it," suggests Realtor Kiran Momin. "Although Katy has a strong and expanding economy, it remains affordable. The average home value is $169,700. The average household income is nearly $52,000 per year. Housing in Katy varies from apartments and condominiums to large estate homes with acreage for families to enjoy. Subdivisions flourish with tennis courts, swimming pools, and unlimited amenities for residents. With a reasonable cost of living and a well-paid workforce, Katy is great for people considering relocation. Housing prices being what they are, even a young family can find a starter home. The public school system in Katy is very strong. The Katy Independent School District oversees 28 schools and provides the educational needs of almost 32,000 students a year. There is a very low student-to-teacher ratio throughout the classrooms. Students achieve excellent test scores because of smaller classrooms and teachers can give their utmost attention to their students."