Wailea
real estate

From Title Guaranty’s monthly Maui residential sales reports, January–September 2026. Wailea-Makena sees only a handful of sales a month, so a single month’s median swings a lot.

South Maui at a glance

South Maui runs along the dry, sunny leeward coast from Kihei through Wailea to Makena. Kihei is the town: older beachfront condos, shopping and most of the full-time homes. Wailea is the planned resort community that starts at Keawakapu Beach, with five resort hotels, three golf courses, condo and villa projects, and gated homesite subdivisions climbing the slope. South of Wailea, Makena is quieter, with fewer buildings, larger lots, and a coastline of oceanfront estates and state park beaches.

Wailea, Kihei and Makena all share the 96753 zip code. Weighing West Maui too? See our Wailea vs. Kāʻanapali comparison.

We help buyers and sellers with Wailea and Makena oceanfront condos, homes and homesites, from pricing and searching to the association documents and the Bill 9 questions specific to each building.

Most Wailea and Makena properties sit inside two associations: their own building or subdivision association and the Wailea Community Association, each with its own fees and rules. Factor both into what you’ll pay each month.

Neighborhoods

Wailea & Makena neighborhood guide →Kihei neighborhood guide →

Wailea and Makena condos

Rental rules are the first thing to check on any South Maui condo. Some buildings are resort-zoned and can keep renting nightly, some are on the Minatoya list and lose nightly rentals under Bill 9 on January 1, 2031, and many newer projects never allowed vacation rentals at all. Each name links to that building’s page in our condo directory.

Oceanfront and resort

Golf and garden villas

Newer projects

South Kihei beachfront

“Reported allowed” means listings say nightly rentals are allowed and the building isn’t on the Bill 9 list; we confirm zoning and house rules before any purchase.

Browse the Maui condo directory →Bill 9 tracker →

Wailea luxury

Luxury in Wailea mostly means one of two things: an oceanfront resort condo you can lock and leave, or a custom home in a gated subdivision with ocean and Molokini views. Recent closed sales give a sense of where the condo market sits:

On the home side, the gated subdivisions trade both finished homes and vacant homesites, and a lot of buyers build. Lots generally run from about 9,000 square feet in Wailea Kialoa and Pualani Estates to half an acre and up in Wailea Highlands. If you’re buying land, budget for design review by both the subdivision and the Wailea Community Association and for Maui County building permits.

For condos, the monthly cost can be as big a decision as the price. HOA dues at the oceanfront buildings above run $1,500 to more than $8,000 a month before the Wailea Community Association assessment, property tax and insurance.

Makena luxury and oceanfront

Makena is where Maui’s biggest oceanfront sales happen. In January 2023, 4572 Makena Road, just over half an acre on the water, sold for $32.76 million, at the time the highest price for a home sold through the MLS on Maui. Many of South Maui’s highest-priced estates are along Makena Road and the Palauea coast just south of the Wailea resorts.

Makena’s condos are fewer and closer to the water. In June 2026, Makena Surf #F-207 sold for $4.15 million and Polo Beach Club #107 for $3.75 million. Farther south, the private Makena Golf & Beach Club, developed by Discovery Land Company on the old Makena Resort lands, has been building homes, cottages and residences around Maluaka Beach for club members.

What to check on oceanfront

• Shoreline setback and certification. Maui County sets shoreline setbacks by lot depth and erosion rate, and they control what you can rebuild or add near the water.
• Special Management Area. Most coastal parcels need an SMA review for significant work.
• Flood zone, tsunami zone and sea level rise. They affect insurance, lending and future permits. Check any address with our Hawaii flood zone lookup.
• Erosion history. Look at how the shoreline in front of the property has moved over time, not just how it looks today.
• Public access. Beaches in Hawaii are public up to the high wash of the waves, and many oceanfront lots sit next to public access paths.

Beaches

South Maui’s beaches are the reason most people buy here. A paved coastal path, the Wailea Beach Path, runs roughly a mile and a half past the resorts from Ulua and Mokapu to Polo Beach. From north to south:

Vacation rentals

For condos, it comes down to the building. Resort-zoned buildings and those on the county’s non-apartment list can keep renting nightly. Buildings on the Minatoya list lose nightly rentals under Bill 9 on January 1, 2031 in South Maui, unless they’re rezoned to the new hotel districts. Newer projects like Kai Malu, Keala O Wailea, Makalii and Lai Loa were built as long-term only.

For houses, plan on no vacation rentals. Outside resort and apartment districts, Maui County requires a short-term rental home permit, caps them at 46 in the Kihei-Makena area, and requires long ownership before an owner can apply. Permits don’t transfer to a buyer.

Property taxes

Maui County’s rates depend on how you use the property. Rates per $1,000 of net taxable value, July 2026 to June 2027:

On a $3 million second home, the non-owner-occupied rate comes to about $28,000 a year versus about $12,000 at the long-term rental rate, so it’s worth knowing how you’ll use the property before you buy.

Sources: Title Guaranty Hawaii monthly Maui residential sales reports (January–September 2026); Island Sotheby’s International Realty luxury sales reports (June and July 2026); Maui Now (January 2023); our Maui condo directory and Bill 9 tracker; Maui County Code chapter 19.65; Hawaii statewide real property tax rate report, FY2027. General information, not legal or tax advice.