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Lānaʻi Real Estate News, November 2026: Few Listings, New Rent-to-Own Homes, and Kōʻele’s Expansion Plans

Posted by benjamen.harper@gmail.com on November 7, 2026
Hawaii Real Estate, Lanai
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Lānaʻi isn’t like any other real estate market in Hawaiʻi. About 3,300 people live on the island, and Larry Ellison’s company, Pūlama Lānaʻi, owns about 98% of it, including a large share of the housing, the water company and both resorts. Not many homes come up for sale, and the ones that do fall into two very different groups: plantation-era homes in Lānaʻi City and luxury residences at Mānele and Kōʻele.

Here’s where things stand this fall.

The year so far

Coldwell Banker Island Properties’ year-to-date numbers through October:

Jan–Oct 2026Sales2025 same periodMedian priceMedian DOM
Single-family96$695,000 (+9%)125
Condo41$3.68 million251
Land10$255,00037

Nine home sales in ten months is actually a busy year for Lānaʻi. The median rose to $695,000, and homes sold faster than last year (125 days vs. 160). Zillow’s typical home value for Lānaʻi City is about $691,000, nearly flat over the past year.

Ignore the condo median as a trend. With only four sales, it mostly shows that luxury units at Mānele sold this year. One example: a 3-bedroom at the Terraces at Mānele closed in July at $4.775 million, after 491 days on the market and a $4.995 million asking price. Luxury sells here, but it takes a long time and usually below asking.

New housing: Kaiāulu O Lānaʻi and Hōkūao

For years the biggest housing problem on Lānaʻi has been that there just isn’t enough of it. Families often double or triple up in small plantation homes.

Kaiāulu O Lānaʻi is a county project with 72 rent-to-own homes. The site was blessed in February, and construction is planned to start this year. According to Councilmember Gabe Johnson, residents would rent for 15 years and then have the option to buy. Hawaiʻi Public Radio called it the island’s first affordable housing project in 35 years.

Before that came Hōkūao, Pūlama Lānaʻi’s privately funded 150-home rental project. Its affordable units, for households earning 80% to 140% of area median income, were fully occupied by the end of 2024. Even so, people on the island say overcrowding is still common.

For buyers, this means most of Lānaʻi’s new housing is rental or rent-to-own, not homes for sale on the open market. Resale inventory will stay thin.

Kōʻele and Sensei expansion

Pūlama Lānaʻi filed in April to rezone about 170 acres around Kōʻele from agricultural and rural to urban, and the request went before the state Land Use Commission this summer. The plan includes:

  • Up to nine new villas and five new spa units at Sensei Lānaʻi, a Four Seasons Resort (guest rooms, not housing for residents)
  • Four resort buildings for offices, maintenance and flexible space
  • About 14.6 acres of ranch land turned into an event space for dinners and weddings
  • About 83 acres of the old Kōʻele golf course turned into a park
  • Moving the two historic Richardson homes about 500 feet and preserving them

Pūlama says the project would cut resort-residential land by 72% and grow park and open space from 23.5 acres to more than 315 acres. People on the island are split. Business owners point to jobs and the company’s investments. Others see Kōʻele as a cultural place that should stay open to the community.

For anyone who owns or is thinking of buying near Kōʻele, the takeaway is that less of the area is set aside for new resort homes, and the resort will get busier.

Vacation rental rules

Maui County’s vacation rental fight (Bill 9 and the new H-3/H-4 hotel zoning under Bill 88) has mostly been about condos on Maui and Molokaʻi. Lānaʻi’s role so far has been on the policy side. The Lānaʻi Planning Commission recommended against Bill 88, and Councilmember Johnson voted no. If you’re buying on Lānaʻi with rental income in mind, check the property’s zoning and permits before you count on short-term rental income. Nearly all the island’s visitor lodging is in the resorts.

What this means for you

Buyers: Be patient and ready to act. Lānaʻi City homes come up a few times a year and are priced near $700,000. Luxury buyers have more room to negotiate, since high-end units are taking a year or more to sell.

Sellers: There are few competing listings, which helps. But the buyer pool is small, so a realistic price and good marketing to off-island buyers matter.

Thinking about buying or selling on Lānaʻi? Call or text us, or start here: Buying · Selling

Sources

Market figures come from the sources above and from MLS data reported by third parties. They’re deemed reliable but not guaranteed. With so few sales on Lānaʻi, one transaction can move a median dramatically.