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Wailea, Maui Neighborhood Guide (2026)

Last updated: October 7, 2026 · By the Hansen Ohana

Quick answer: Wailea is a master-planned resort community on the leeward (dry, sunny) side of South Maui, between Kihei to the north and Makena to the south. It's built around five public beaches connected by the Wailea Beach Path, three golf courses at Wailea Golf Club, and a cluster of large resort hotels. Housing is mostly HOA-governed condominiums (resort and golf-course view), with a smaller number of gated single-family communities and estate homes. It suits second-home buyers, vacation-rental investors (where a building's rules allow it), and buyers of luxury primary residences.

Maui market numbers as of : Wailea/Makena

As of October 9, 2026, 28 Wailea/Makena homes closed over the trailing 12 months (October 10, 2025 to October 9, 2026), per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, the median sold price of a Wailea/Makena home over the trailing 12 months was $3,087,500 (n=28), per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, the median time from listing to closing for Wailea/Makena homes sold over the trailing 12 months was 114 days (n=28), per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, fewer than 8 Wailea/Makena homes closed in Q4 2026 to date (n=1), so no median is reported, per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, 29 Wailea/Makena homes were actively listed for sale (excluding Coming Soon), per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, 85 Wailea/Makena condos closed over the trailing 12 months (October 10, 2025 to October 9, 2026), per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, the median sold price of a Wailea/Makena condo over the trailing 12 months was $1,975,000 (n=85), per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, the median time from listing to closing for Wailea/Makena condos sold over the trailing 12 months was 122 days (n=85), per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, fewer than 8 Wailea/Makena condos closed in Q4 2026 to date (n=2), so no median is reported, per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

As of October 9, 2026, 80 Wailea/Makena condos were actively listed for sale (excluding Coming Soon), per Maui MLS data computed by MauiRealEstate.net.

12-mo closed12-mo median price12-mo median days to closeQ4 2026 to date closedQ4 2026 to date medianActive now
Homes28$3,087,5001141n<829
Condos85$1,975,0001222n<880

Source: Maui MLS data via MauiRealEstate.net, computed from closed sales with a recorded sold price, as of October 9, 2026; medians are true medians.

Homes are single-family classes. Days to close runs from the listing date to the closing date. Medians are shown only when at least 8 sales support them. Wailea and Makena are one MLS area.

See the live Maui Truth Report for every district.

Where is Wailea?

Wailea sits on Maui's southwest-facing leeward coast, in South Maui, directly south of Kihei and north of Makena. Like the rest of the leeward side, it's on the dry, sunny side of the island, sheltered from the trade-wind rain that falls on Maui's windward slopes. It's roughly a 20-30 minute drive from Kahului Airport, depending on traffic and time of day.

A master-planned resort community

Wailea is a master-planned community, meaning its roads, landscaping, golf courses, resorts, and condo complexes were developed under a coordinated plan rather than growing up piecemeal. Development began in the 1970s and continued in phases over the following decades, which is why the area reads as more uniform and heavily landscaped than older Maui towns — low signage, buried utility lines in many areas, and consistent building setbacks are typical of the design standards that master-planned resort communities like Wailea use.

Beaches and the Wailea Beach Path

Wailea's coastline includes five named public beaches, running roughly north to south: Keawakapu, Mokapu, Ulua, Wailea, and Polo. All Hawaii beaches are public below the vegetation line, including the stretches that front hotels and condos. The beaches are linked by the Wailea Beach Path, a paved oceanfront walking path that runs the length of the resort corridor, connecting the beaches to the golf courses, hotels, and Wailea's shopping areas — a common route for walking, jogging, and watching sunset.

Golf at Wailea Golf Club

Wailea Golf Club operates three 18-hole courses in the community: the Gold, Emerald, and Blue courses. Many of Wailea's condo complexes and single-family neighborhoods border one of the three courses, which is part of why "golf-course view" is its own category of unit in the local resale market.

Resorts, shops, and Wailea Town Center

Wailea has one of the highest concentrations of large resort hotels on Maui, including the Grand Wailea, the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, the Fairmont Kea Lani, and the Andaz Maui at Wailea. Shopping and dining are centered on The Shops at Wailea, an open-air retail center along the beach path, and Wailea Town Center, a smaller commercial center a short distance inland that mixes local businesses with professional offices.

Housing types in Wailea

Most of Wailea's housing stock is condominiums, split loosely into oceanfront/resort-view buildings and golf-course-view buildings, nearly all governed by an HOA with its own architectural, use, and (often) rental rules. A smaller share of Wailea is gated single-family subdivisions and larger estate-lot homes, mostly on the community's upland and coastal edges, which trade more space and privacy for a longer drive to the beach path and shops.

Who Wailea tends to suit

Wailea attracts a fairly consistent set of buyer types: second-home owners who want a lock-and-leave property in a resort setting; vacation-rental investors, in the specific buildings where a complex's rules and zoning permit it; and buyers of luxury primary residences who want golf, beach access, and resort amenities as part of daily life rather than a vacation.

Practical notes before you buy

A few things worth checking before buying in Wailea, specifically because they vary building-by-building rather than holding true for the neighborhood as a whole: HOA and design standards — most complexes have their own architectural review and use rules, so read the governing documents, not just the listing; vacation-rental permissions — whether a unit can legally be rented short-term depends on that building's zoning and HOA rules and can change with county policy, so verify it for the exact unit rather than assuming from the area (see our broader guide to buying a Maui vacation rental for the tax and cost side of that question); and weather, which is generally dry and sunny year-round on this leeward coast, with Wailea typically seeing less rainfall than Maui's windward and upcountry areas.

What do Wailea condo HOA fees cover, and what drives them?

Wailea association fees differ from building to building, so the fee line on each listing is the number to use, not an area average. The fee funds the association's annual budget, and the governing documents and budget summary show what that budget includes for a given building. Two lines worth reading in any budget are reserves and insurance. Hawaii's Real Estate Commission tells prospective buyers to review an association's finances, audit reports and reserves to get a heads up on potential special assessments. Its June 2025 Condominium Bulletin also describes escalating premiums and limited coverage options for condominium associations. We do not quote a typical Wailea fee here because we have not found a published source for one. Before you offer, ask for the current budget, the latest audit and the reserve information, and compare them with the fee shown on the listing page. Hawaii Condo Living Guide (DCCA Real Estate Branch).

Can you short-term rent a Wailea condo under Maui County's current rules?

It depends on the building, and Maui County now has adopted end dates for apartment-district vacation rentals. Ordinance 5909 (Bill 9), passed December 15, 2025, ends short-term rental use for units on the county's allowed list (often called the Minatoya list): use must cease January 1, 2029 in the West Maui community plan area and January 1, 2031 in all remaining areas. Hotel and resort zoned rentals are not covered by that phase-out. Separately, Ordinance 6008 created H-3 and H-4 hotel districts, in force since June 22, 2026. Ordinance 6008 creates the categories only; it does not rezone any property. Rezoning a specific complex into H-3 or H-4 takes separate council action. On September 23, 2026 the Maui Planning Commission voted 6 to 2 to recommend exemptions for only five properties among the dozens proposed in Resolutions 26-110 and 26-111 (Star-Advertiser, September 23, 2026), and its recommendation does not bind the Council, so as of early October 2026 no complex had been rezoned and a recommended rezoning should never be read as adopted. Each listing on this site shows a rental eligibility panel, and the building's own governing documents can restrict rentals further than the county does. Confirm both before you offer. Maui County Ordinance 5909.

Is a Wailea property in a flood zone?

Flood zone status is set parcel by parcel, so the answer for a Wailea address comes from FEMA's maps, not from the neighborhood name. FEMA's Map Service Center and NFHL Viewer let you search an address and download a FIRMette, a printable version of the flood map. Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources offers the Flood Hazard Assessment Tool, which it describes as an informational mapping viewer that displays flood zones from FEMA's Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The tool also states that it does not identify all areas subject to flooding, and counties may have additional rules outside FEMA mapped zones. A Special Flood Hazard Area is where the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement applies, and lenders check this on federally backed loans with a Standard Flood Hazard Determination form. Look up the exact address before you offer, and ask your lender whether a determination is needed. Hawaii Flood Hazard Assessment Tool.

Is Wailea in a tsunami evacuation zone?

Tsunami evacuation status is mapped by address, and Hawaii publishes it through an online viewer rather than by neighborhood name. The Tsunami Aware viewer, developed with the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, is described as an online and mobile-friendly viewer with interactive maps of areas with tsunami evacuation zones. Evacuation areas are shown in color on the warning map, and during a 2025 tsunami warning officials urged people in the red areas to seek higher ground. We have not confirmed the zone status of any Wailea property in this guide, so check the specific address instead of assuming from its distance to the water. It is also worth learning your route out of any marked zone before you buy, and asking the seller or association whether the building has an evacuation plan. NOAA Tsunami Aware viewer.

How is property tax set for a Wailea home or condo?

Maui County charges real property tax by class, so the bill depends on how a property is classified as well as its assessed value. Rates are set for each fiscal year and expressed per $1,000 of assessed value, with tiers by value. Owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied homes have different rates, and recent county proposals treated vacation rental properties less favorably than owner-occupied homes. Because the class can change the bill materially, ask which class the current owner is billed under, and ask your agent which class is likely to apply to you after closing. The county's tax rate resolution for fiscal year 2026-27 lists every class and tier. Real property tax is separate from the General Excise, state transient and county transient accommodations taxes charged on rental income, which are covered in our vacation-rental investment guide. Maui Now on how the county sets rates by class.

What insurance do Wailea buyers need?

If there is a mortgage, the lender will require hurricane insurance, and flood damage is not covered by it, so buyers usually price the coverages separately. The Hawaii Insurance Division says lenders require hurricane insurance when there is a mortgage, that it is optional for owners without one, and that flood damage and lesser non-hurricane wind events are not covered under hurricane insurance. Hurricane policies usually carry their own deductible, which the Insurance Division's commissioner has described as often expressed as a percentage of the dwelling coverage limit; his example was a five percent deductible on a $400,000 limit, or $20,000. Read the declarations page for the actual figure. Flood insurance becomes a lender requirement when the building is in a Special Flood Hazard Area on a federally backed loan. For condominiums, the association's own coverage matters too; see the HOA section above. Hawaii Insurance Division hurricane FAQ.

Which public schools are near Wailea?

The Hawaii Department of Education assigns schools by address, so use its SchoolSite Locator for the exact answer. The Department says the locator shows general service areas, is for reference only, and should not be the sole source for a relocation, purchase or rental; it advises contacting the school to confirm. Kihei, the town immediately north, has these public campuses in the Baldwin-Kekaulike-Kūlanihākoʻi-Maui complex area: Kīhei Elementary (pre-kindergarten to grade 5, 250 E. Lipoa Street), Kamaliʻi Elementary (kindergarten to grade 5, 180 Kealii Alanui), Lokelani Intermediate (grades 6 to 8, 1401 Liloa Drive) and Kūlanihākoʻi High (grades 9 to 12, 901 Piilani Highway). The high school opened to ninth graders in the 2022-23 school year and has added a grade each year. We have not confirmed which of these serves a given Wailea address, and we do not list private schools here. Hawaii DOE Find Your School.

How do Wailea prices compare with the rest of South Maui?

Wailea sits at the resort-luxury end of South Maui, with a lower cost of entry in Kihei next door. Within Wailea, price tends to follow the type of housing and the view: most stock is condominiums, split between oceanfront or resort-view buildings and golf-course-view buildings, with a smaller number of gated single-family subdivisions and estate homes. Rental permission also affects what buyers will pay, which is why vacation-rental status is checked unit by unit. The statistics block near the top of this page carries the current figures from the MLS, and we have kept dollar amounts out of this paragraph so the numbers are never out of date. Compare the monthly association fee as well as the price, since two units at the same price can cost very different amounts to hold. Hawaii Condo Living Guide.

Talk to a Hansen

The Hansen Ohana's office sits inside Wailea Town Center, in the neighborhood this guide covers. If you're weighing a purchase here, broker Clint Hansen (RB-21616) — Maui-born, 26 years in Wailea and Makena real estate — and the team can walk you through which complexes and communities fit your goals. See also our guide to working with a Wailea-based real estate team.

161 Wailea Ike Place, A-106, Wailea, Maui, HI 96753
Office: (808) 743-1214