Horseshoe Bay Waterfront Homes for Sale

Work With Horseshoe Bay Waterfront Specialists

Horseshoe Bay waterfront real estate trades differently from the rest of Lake LBJ. Prices run higher, more of the buyers are moving in full time, and a meaningful share of the best properties change hands before they are ever listed. Sellers at this price point tend to value privacy, and buyers who only watch the MLS for Horseshoe Bay waterfront homes for sale see a fraction of what actually sells. That is the gap our team was built to close.

Hunter Croan, owner of The Lakefront Group and The Hill Country Luxury Group, has spent his career on Central Texas water and built the team around off-market access. When a Horseshoe Bay estate is going to sell quietly, the goal is for our buyers to hear about it first and for our sellers to have that option.

Billy Stephens is known among Lake LBJ followers as the lake video guy. His waterfront video reaches The Lakefront Group's Facebook audience of more than 24,000 followers, most of them people who already watch this lake, which puts a Horseshoe Bay listing in front of buyers before it reaches a portal. Before real estate, Billy spent more than ten years in building materials sales, and he uses that background to walk sellers through which improvements will move the needle before listing and to give buyers a realistic read on post-closing costs for a dock, a deck, or a kitchen.

Brooke LeMond grew up in Llano, a short drive from the lake, and has represented buyers in Horseshoe Bay along with Kingsland and Granite Shoals. With more than twenty years in real estate and a KW Real Estate Planner certification, she is the agent we send in when a purchase involves a 1031 exchange, a capital gains question, or a home that is meant to stay in the family for a generation, all of which come up regularly with Horseshoe Bay buyers and sellers.

Horseshoe Bay Waterfront Homes for Sale by Neighborhood

Horseshoe Bay is a collection of distinct sections, and the waterfront ones differ from each other in gating, HOA rules, lot size, and the kind of water out front. Knowing which section a property sits in tells you almost as much as the listing does.

Lighthouse Drive and the Peninsula. The peninsula that runs out toward the resort marina is the address most people picture when they think of Horseshoe Bay. Lighthouse Drive carries open-water views in more than one direction and some of the largest waterfront estates on Lake LBJ.

Applehead Island. A gated island where every home is waterfront. Applehead Island homes for sale represent some of the most exclusive waterfront real estate on the Highland Lakes, and we keep a dedicated page for the island because it behaves as its own market.

Matern Island. A small gated island of roughly a dozen estates on Matern Court, each with private water access and slips. Inventory here is thin and turns over slowly, which is exactly why off-market access matters.

Blue Lake. The Blue Lake Peninsula on the southwest side of the city is an established neighborhood with its own public nine-hole golf course, opened in 1962, and a more relaxed feel than the resort core. Blue Lake waterfront homes for sale have their own page.

Lago Escondido. The lakefront section of Escondido, the member-owned club community built around a Tom Fazio course. Membership conveys with property ownership, and the club's private lake club and marina give residents water access even when the home itself is not on the shoreline.

If Horseshoe Bay is more resort than you are looking for, the rest of the lake is worth a look. Sunrise Beach waterfront homes and Kingsland lakefront homes sit at lower price points with a more laid-back pace, and across the water, Highland Haven waterfront homes and Granite Shoals lakefront homes read more like traditional lake neighborhoods. Lake LBJ condos and townhomes are the entry point for buyers who want the water without the estate.

Who Buys in Horseshoe Bay

Three groups make up most of the buyers we work with here. The largest is retirees leaving Austin and San Antonio for a full-time home, drawn by the golf, the constant-level water, and a city that was built around the resort rather than a subdivision. Horseshoe Bay has a larger share of full-time residents than any other community on Lake LBJ, and the amenities are open year-round. The second group is second-home buyers within the three-hour drive window most lake buyers stick to, which covers Austin, San Antonio, and a good part of the Hill Country. The third is second-home buyers from beyond that window, Midland and Odessa and the Dallas-Fort Worth area among them. The airport at Horseshoe Bay Resort is the reason that third group exists: it is privately owned but open to public use, with a full-service jet center and a runway long enough for corporate jets, so an owner can fly in for the weekend instead of driving five hours. All three groups tend to buy for the long term, which keeps turnover low and makes the properties that do come available move quickly.

Living in Horseshoe Bay

Horseshoe Bay Resort anchors the city. Four championship courses sit on the resort grounds: Slick Rock, Ram Rock, and Apple Rock, the Robert Trent Jones Sr. trio the resort calls the Texas Triangle, and Summit Rock, the Jack Nicklaus design reserved for members. Add an 18-hole putting course, a full-service marina on the lake, a spa, racquet sports, and the members' Cap Rock clubhouse. Membership is private, though several of the resort's restaurants and amenities welcome the public, and Lake LBJ Yacht Club and Marina next door handles slips, boat and jet ski rentals, and a waterfront bar and grill. Escondido and Blue Lake round out the golf, and Horseshoe Bay Nature Park and the Horseshoe Creek Hiking Trail cover the trails, with the creek trail running about two and a half miles along Horseshoe Creek with a view down to the Lighthouse.

The city holds a Certified Scenic City designation from Scenic Texas and was named the 2023 Texas Scenic City of the Year. It is also a recognized International Dark Sky Community, one of only two in Texas according to the city, which makes a difference on a clear night over the lake. Dining ranges from Fornos at the marina and the resort restaurants to Bay View in neighboring Cottonwood Shores, with views back across the bay. Our team's favorites around the lake are in 5 Exceptional Waterfront Restaurants on Lake LBJ. Marble Falls is under ten minutes away for groceries, H-E-B, and the Bluebonnet Cafe. Austin is roughly an hour by car and San Antonio roughly an hour and a half, traffic depending.

Horseshoe Bay addresses are zoned to Marble Falls ISD. Confirm the assigned campuses for a specific address before you buy, since attendance zones change.

Horseshoe Bay Waterfront Real Estate FAQs

What makes Horseshoe Bay different from the rest of Lake LBJ?

Horseshoe Bay is the resort end of the lake. It is an incorporated city with a full-time population, four championship golf courses, a public-use airport with a jet center, and a marina, all inside a Certified Scenic City with a Dark Sky designation. Other Lake LBJ communities offer the same constant-level water at lower price points, but none of them pair it with this level of amenities or this share of full-time residents.

Are short-term rentals allowed in Horseshoe Bay?

Sometimes, and it depends on two layers of rules. The City of Horseshoe Bay requires a short-term rental permit and application, and on top of that, most of the established neighborhoods have POA restrictions that limit or prohibit short-term rentals outright. That makes Horseshoe Bay very different from STR-friendly communities like Kingsland. Buyers counting on rental income should verify both the city permit status and the specific POA's rules for the exact property before making an offer.

Does fill area affect Horseshoe Bay waterfront properties?

It can. On Lake LBJ, the strip of land between the recorded property line and the water is sometimes owned by the LCRA or by a separate party rather than the seller, and a listing that reads as waterfront may not include the shoreline itself. Before you rely on the dock or the water access, confirm who owns the fill. Our guide, Fill Property and the Highland Lakes: Understanding Your Boundaries, walks through what to look for.

Can you fly into Horseshoe Bay?

Yes. Horseshoe Bay Resort Airport (KDZB) is privately owned by the resort but open to public use, with Resort Jet Center providing full fixed-base operator services (fuel, hangars, a pilot lounge) and a lighted runway just under 6,000 feet that handles turboprops and corporate jets up to a regional jetliner. That is why the community draws second-home buyers from West Texas and North Texas who would otherwise pick a lake closer to home. Landing and overnight fees are set by the jet center and change over time, so check current fees and hours directly with Resort Jet Center before you plan around it.

Are there condos and townhomes in Horseshoe Bay?

Yes, and they are the most accessible way into the community. Condos and townhomes near the resort and along the bay trade well below the waterfront estates and still put you on the lake. We track them separately on our Lake LBJ condos and townhomes page.

What should buyers compare when looking at waterfront homes in Horseshoe Bay?

Start with which section the home sits in, because gating, POA rules, and fees differ from one to the next. Then compare open water against cove position, the direction of the view, dock and boathouse configuration, and how close the home is to the resort amenities you plan to use. Two Horseshoe Bay lake houses at the same price can live very differently. For how community shapes pricing across the lake, read Understanding Waterfront Communities Pricing on the Highland Lakes.

How To Find Horseshoe Bay Waterfront Homes for Sale

Whether you are searching for a Horseshoe Bay lake house to retire to, an estate on Applehead Island, or a condo you can fly in to on weekends, The Lakefront Group has the Highland Lakes covered, including the Horseshoe Bay waterfront real estate that never reaches a public listing. Contact us or call 830.253.5253 to talk through what you are looking for.

Don't miss the listings, sign up for Lake House Alerts today. No junk email, just exclusive listings.