Lanai Real Estate in 2026: A Tiny Market With One Big Landowner
Lanai is one of the smallest real estate markets in the country. Only about 3,000 people live on the island, and Larry Ellison has owned about 98% of the land since 2012, along with roughly a third of the housing. That leaves only a handful of privately owned homes coming up for sale each year.
What’s selling
| Period | Single-family homes | Condos |
|---|---|---|
| All of 2025 | 7 sales, median $700,000 | 1 sale, $188,000 |
| September 2026 | 1 sale, $695,000 | None |
Seven home sales in a whole year is the reality here. If you want to buy on Lanai, you may wait months for the right listing, and you should be ready to move when it shows up.
What’s out there
- Lanai City homes: most private homes are in and around Lanai City, upcountry at about 1,600 feet, and many are older plantation-era houses on small lots. It’s cooler and greener than the coast, and everything in town is close.
- Resort-area homes: there are higher-end residences near the Manele and Koele resort areas. They come up rarely and usually have association fees and rules, so read those documents closely.
In 2025 Pulama Lanai, the company that runs Ellison’s holdings, shut down its luxury vacation-home building division to focus on local needs. So don’t expect a wave of new resort homes for sale. In April 2026 Pulama did ask the state to reclassify about 170 acres near the Koele resort for a small number of villas, but that’s tied to the resort.
New local housing
Most new housing is going to residents, not the open market. Hokuao is a Pulama rental project in Lanai City with dozens of homes finished, and Kaiaulu O Lanai is a county rent-to-own project, 72 homes for working families, that broke ground in 2026. We wrote more about both in New Housing on Lanai.
Property taxes
Lanai uses Maui County’s tax rates. For 2026-27, an owner-occupied home pays $1.65 per $1,000 of assessed value up to $1.5 million, after a $300,000 home exemption. A second home that isn’t rented starts at $6.25 per $1,000. If you’ll live on Lanai full time, file for the home exemption.
Things to check
- Whether the land is fee simple, and any association rules if it’s in a resort area.
- Water and utilities. Pulama owns the island’s water company.
- How you’ll get on and off the island (see Getting to Lanai).
- If you hope to rent it to visitors, Lanai’s vacation rental permits are capped (see Lanai’s rental rules).
If you’re thinking about buying or selling on Lanai, start with our Lanai real estate guide, or send a note below and we’ll get back to you.
Sources
- Title Guaranty, Maui County residential sales report, year-end 2025, Jan 2026
- Title Guaranty, Maui Island residential sales report, September 2026, Oct 2026
- Civil Beat, Ellison shuts down vacation home division on Lanai, Sept 25, 2025
- Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Ellison’s Lanai purchases, Feb 23, 2014
- Maui County Resolution 26-69, FY2027 real property tax rates, May 15, 2026
- Maui County home exemption form, rev. Dec 2025