Maui Real Estate: Areas, Prices and What to Know Before You Buy (2026)

By Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR (RS-66616), The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). Selling in Hawaii since 2005. Updated November 13, 2026.

Maui is one island, but it does not behave like one market. A sunny Kihei condo, a newer subdivision home in Kahului, a pasture lot in Kula and a resort villa in Wailea answer different questions, carry different taxes, and sit on different hazard maps. This page is the overview: where the main areas are, what homes cost right now, the rules that matter most in 2026, and how to narrow your search. Each area below has its own page with more detail, and my Maui neighborhoods guide compares them side by side.

I'm Tony Kawaguchi. My team is based on Oahu, and for Maui purchases we help buyers through eXp Realty's statewide network, including referrals to agents who work Maui every day. Whatever the path, the homework is the same, and it starts with the area.

The main areas of Maui at a glance

Maui real estate is usually grouped the way the MLS and the county community plans group it: Central, South, West, Upcountry, North Shore and East Maui. Here is the short version, with a link to each area page.

Molokai and Lanai are part of Maui County and appear in the county's statistics, but they are separate islands with their own very small markets.

What homes cost on Maui right now

Countywide, the October 2026 Title Guaranty Hawaii market report put the single-family median at $1,179,000 on 59 sales, down 4.9% from October 2025, and the condo median at $634,500 on 68 sales, down 0.5%. Year to date through October, 596 houses sold at a median of $1,211,500 (down 6.8%) and 687 condos sold at a median of $652,500 (down 6.1%), while condo sales volume was up 20.3%. Those county totals include a handful of sales on Lanai and Molokai.

These are October 2026 median prices from the Title Guaranty Hawaii market report for Maui (effective November 2, 2026). Title Guaranty is a Hawaii title and escrow company, and its free monthly report compiles the island board's MLS sales statistics. One month is a small sample, so treat any single-area median as a starting point and look at actual comparable sales. For the monthly picture with live charts, see my Maui market report.

Condos, houses and land: what you can actually buy

Condos are the most active part of the market, concentrated in Kihei, West Maui and the resorts. The biggest question for a condo in 2026 is zoning: many of Maui's older shoreline complexes sit in apartment districts where vacation rentals are being phased out, while hotel-zoned and timeshare projects are not. That one fact can change what a unit is worth to you by a lot.

Single-family homes cluster in Central Maui's subdivisions, inland Kihei, Upcountry and Haiku, with luxury homes in Wailea, Makena, Kaanapali and Kapalua. Newer master-planned neighborhoods in Kahului and Wailuku usually have association rules and dues, so read them before you assume you can add a cottage or rent part of the home.

Land and agricultural lots are common Upcountry, in Haiku and toward Hana. Agricultural zoning comes with real limits on what you can build and how you can use it, and water is not a given: some areas rely on catchment, and new county water meters in parts of Upcountry have long been allocated from a waiting list. Many rural homes on both islands still use cesspools. State law requires every cesspool in Hawaii to be upgraded, converted or connected to sewer by 2050, so a buyer should know what system a property has and what replacing it would involve.

Vacation rental rules: Bill 9 and permits

Apartment-zoned condos: Maui County's Ordinance 5909 (Bill 9) phases out transient vacation rental use in the A-1 and A-2 apartment districts. In the West Maui community plan area the use must end on January 1, 2029; everywhere else in the county it ends on January 1, 2031. Validly existing timeshare units and uses operating under a variance are exempt, and hotel-zoned properties are not covered. A separate 2026 ordinance created new H-3 and H-4 hotel districts that some apartment-zoned complexes are trying to move into, one property at a time, so a building's status can change; I track it in my Maui rezoning update.

Houses: in residential and agricultural districts, nightly rentals generally need a county short-term rental home or bed-and-breakfast permit, and those permits are limited. Never assume a house can be rented nightly because a previous owner did it. If rental income matters to your plan, I want the zoning, the permit status and the association rules for the specific unit before we write an offer.

Nightly rental income is taxed separately from property tax: the state transient accommodations tax is 11% as of January 1, 2026, each county adds a 3% county TAT, and general excise tax is 4.5% in both Maui County and Hawaii County, so plan on about 18.5% of gross rent before income tax.

Land tenure: fee simple and leasehold

Most Maui homes sell fee simple, meaning you own the land and the building. Leasehold still shows up, mainly in some condo projects, and when it does, the years left on the lease and the lease rent terms matter as much as the price, because they affect value and financing. Department of Hawaiian Home Lands homestead leases have their own eligibility rules and are not sold on the open market like fee simple homes. On older rural parcels, title can involve kuleana or access questions that a title company should clear before closing.

Hazards, flood maps and insurance

Before you fall for a view, check four maps for the exact parcel: the state's Flood Hazard Assessment Tool for FEMA flood zones, the tsunami evacuation zone map, the Hawaii Sea Level Rise Viewer for shoreline exposure, and the Special Management Area boundary, which adds a permit layer for most work near the shoreline. After the August 2023 wildfires, I also ask about vegetation, defensible space and insurance availability early, especially on dry leeward slopes. Condo buyers should read the association's budget, reserve study and master insurance policy, because master premiums have pushed maintenance fees up across Hawaii.

Property taxes on Maui

Maui County taxes by how a property is used, not just what it is worth, so the same house can carry very different bills. If you live in the home full time and qualify, the county's home exemption takes $300,000 off the assessed value and moves you into the low owner-occupied class. To qualify you must occupy the home more than 270 days a year, not rent out the whole property, and file a Hawaii resident income tax return with a Maui County address; the claim deadline for the 2027 assessment year is December 31, 2026.

Illustration only, before any minimum tax or other credits: on a home assessed at $1,000,000, the owner-occupied math starts by subtracting the $300,000 exemption from $1,000,000 and applying the tiered rates above, for about $1,155 a year. The same home as a second home in the non-owner-occupied class is roughly $6,250 a year. Check the county's assessment for the actual property.

Getting around Maui

Almost everything routes through Kahului Airport (OGG) and the central valley. Our own estimates for typical light-traffic drives from the airport: Kahului about 5 to 10 minutes, Wailuku 10 to 15, Paia about 15, Pukalani 20 to 25, Kihei 20 to 30, Makawao 25 to 30, Wailea 30 to 40, Kula 30 to 40, Lahaina 45 to 60, Kaanapali 55 to 70, Napili and Kahana 60 to 75, Kapalua 65 to 80, and Hana two and a half to three hours or more. West Maui depends on one main highway, so closures and rush hour can stretch those times. Test the drive at the hour you would actually make it.

How to narrow your Maui search

I usually start with four questions. Will you live there full time, part time, or rent it out? Do you want the dry, sunny leeward side or the cooler, greener slopes? How far are you willing to drive to Kahului for the airport, hospital and shopping? And is a condo with association rules a fit, or do you want land? Answer those and the island narrows quickly. Then we look at current listings, recent sales for the same building or street, and the zoning and hazard maps for each property you like.

Keep reading

• Kihei
• Wailea and Makena
• Kahului
• Wailuku
• Upcountry Maui
• Paia and Haiku
• Lahaina
• Kaanapali
• Napili and Kahana
• Kapalua
• Hana
• Maui neighborhoods guide
• Maui market report
• Big Island real estate
• Kauai real estate
• Which Hawaiian island should I live on?
• Cost of living in Hawaii

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR (RS-66616), The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). Selling in Hawaii since 2005. Phone (808) 201-3577. The Kawaguchi Group is based on Oahu; for neighbor-island purchases we work with buyers through eXp Realty's statewide network, including referrals to agents who work those areas every day. This page is general information, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Market statistics are deemed reliable but not guaranteed and can be revised. Drive times are our own estimates for light traffic and will vary. Photos are of the general area and are not listings.