Most Houston-area communities have great individual schools. But Katy is known for the overall strength of its school district

"It's smoking hot; it's almost unprecedented," said Mark Mckellar a realtor in Katy. "A new listing in a good location with a pool, in an area like Cinco Ranch, it may not even hit the market. If it does hit the market, there's frequently a little frenzy.

It's causing us to try to think differently. There are a lot of frustrated buyers out there who think they can't capture what they want.

A number of well-established real estate professionals in the area have noticed the same thing in Katy. The area is thriving, they say, and the home inventory is not necessarily keeping up with demand.

We've been seeing some houses get six to 10 offers or more.

Around 2004 and 2005, anyone who could fog a mirror could get a home loan," he said. "A lot of these people honestly should not have been approved. The market was going nuts, and builders were building for that.

So, we got in a situation where there weren't enough homes to go around.

At the same time, low interest rates and job creation ramped up demand for Houston-area homes.

Mark McKellar, a Katy resident, worked in the computer industry for more than 20 years before shifting to real estate in 1999. He works primarily in Katy, Memorial, Sugar Land and Cypress and has been a top-seller in his Katy office since 2005.

From what he has seen, the sellers' market that's occurring now first hit Katy around March. "It's worked itself to all of the price ranges," he said. "We have an undersupply, even for the $1 million homes."

Katy home prices range from about $150,000 to more than $2 million.

One of the biggest draws is the quality of the school district.

Every Realtor in the city should be grateful for the Katy school district.

He added that the district understands how to market itself, which is important.

Most Houston-area communities have great individual schools. But Katy is known for the overall strength of its school district.

It's rare to get a combination of top-notch elementary, middle school and high schools in the same area.

Katy benefits from its proximity to the Energy Corridor.

"We're beginning to see some of those energy companies coming further west, too"

It also has helped that Katy is near Interstate 10, Westpark Tollway and the Grand Parkway.

The roadways and tremendous growth in Katy drive development further west.

Cross Creek Ranch is one of the fastest-growing communities here. It has a Fulshear address, but it's still part of the Katy schools.

Also popular is Firethorne, south of Katy but near I-10.

Well-established neighborhoods like Cinco Ranch are still going strong, too.

Cinco Ranch is the name-brand community here. They're in their last couple of sections.

Seven Meadows, Grand Lakes and Green Trails are built out but have popular resale markets. "Houses there, if they're in reasonably good shape, move very quickly."

Mark has heard projections that Houston will be the nation's largest city by 2030. "Beltway 8 and I-10 will be the center of growth. That area is exploding, and anything close to it will go up in value exponentially."