Maui Real Estate Information
If you are interested in Maui real
estate the best way to find your dream home is to get to know the island. We are
deicated to making the purchase of your piece of paradise as stress free as
possible. Below is a brief description of the main areas of the island. Each
region links to a more detailed page about the towns and latest
listings.
View North Maui Real Estate
Listings
The north coastal area of Maui is world-renowned for surfing at Jaws and
wind-surfing at Ho‘okipa Beach. Many of the accommodations in and
around Pa‘ia reflect the needs of the surfers and surf fans. Beyond
the town, the north shore presents another entirely different side of
our tropical paradise. In Huelo, a peninsula jutting into the Pacific,
romantic privacy envelopes visitors—mostly couples. Similar levels
of quiet and solitude are found in the scattered inns of Ha‘iku
and along the famous Road to Hana.
View West Maui Real Estate
Listings
West Maui,
where the visitor industry began in Maui County, is today unequivocally
dominated by tourism and world-class resorts, but it is also a good place to
live. People who are attracted to West Maui are often those who like having the
restaurants and nightclubs of the major resorts nearby or those who have the
leisure to enjoy the activities and attractions that have developed as part of
the visitor industry.
However, West Maui has both old and new residential
areas that have developed independent of the resorts. Lahaina, Lahainaluna
and Olowalu, for example, as well as more northerly areas like Honokowai were
settled communities long before the 1960s start of tourism. More recently,
large tracts of former agricultural land have been developed for full-time and,
as often as not, part-time Maui residences.
Sugar cane operations, vital
to West Maui for so long, have been gone since the 1990s, but pineapple
operations, while diminished, are still in full swing in the northerly areas of
West Maui. Other low- impact agriculture is increasing in the twenty-first
century. West Maui is separated from South and Central Maui by the majestic
West Maui Mountains—actually the eroded remains of a shield volcano—and people
who live there often live as though they were actually on a separate island,
traveling to the larger, Haleakala-side, areas of Maui.
Everything is there from
restaurants to shopping, recreation and scenic areas to schools through grade 12
and, of course, endless beaches and bays.
The weather on the west side,
protected from the trade winds by the mountains, tends to be drier and warmer
than most of Maui. These nearly perpetual sunny days are just what resort guests
want for long days on the beach and in the water, and the temperate (but
seldom actually cool) evenings make it pleasant to enjoy the many outdoor and
open-air dining opportunities.
Shopping options are growing steadily with
the development of residences. Already, basic, day-to-day shopping needs are
handled by the stores at the Lahaina Cannery Mall where a supermarket
and drugstore share space with many shops more appropriate to the
visitor population.
West Maui is often developed as estates or gentleman
farmer properties, although apartment buildings, condos complexes and
less luxurious homes have been built in recent years.
View Central Maui Real
Estate Listings
Central Maui is not big on upscale estates or grand
architecture. It is proudly down-scale instead, and comfortably homey. Because
this area doesn’t boast famous beaches or resorts, it has a simpler and,
despite the nearby commercial activity, a slower lifestyle than some busier
parts of Maui.
Central Maui, as seen by visitors, seems to be all
business. That is hardly the case. While it’s true that the airport, major
national chain stores, non-resort hotels, the harbor and most of Maui’s
industrial development are in Central Maui, it is also true that Waihe‘e,
Waiehu, Wailuku, Waikapu and the little noticed but pleasant residential
neighborhoods of Kahului are here. For anyone who values convenience, this area
has everything. Schools, both public and private, at all levels are here,
including the University of Hawai‘i campus called Maui Community College. The
Maui Arts and Cultural Center is here too, in the Maui Central Park
development.
The conveniences of Central Maui also include shopping
centers—Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center, Maui Mall, Kahului Shopping Center,
Maui Marketplace and Triangle Square.
The rugged northwest coast of Maui
is home to Waihe‘e and Waiehu, beautiful, semi-rural residential communities
that are out-of-the way, but literally just around the corner from Wailuku, the
county seat.
Wailuku, like Kahului is an area people pass through unaware
of its expansive residential possibilities. Main and Market Streets
attract visitors to galleries, cafés and the historic Iao theater. Just
above the state and county government buildings at Main and High Streets, there
is Iao Valley, a far-away-feeling canyon of green, dotted with private homes.
Stretching throughout Wailuku and continuing into Kahului, there are numerous
neatly laid-out neighborhoods, some of them more than 50 years old. Because the
neighborhoods have parks and schools, they give no hint of the industry and
bustling traffic so nearby.
Beaches in Central Maui are few and plain…
that’s a plus for some people who prefer quiet shorelines. Kahului harbor
beach—officially Hoaloha park—for instance, is often deserted, open for
strolling, sitting, yoga, or whatever you like. There is also a
windsurfing beach here, Kanaha Beach Park, near the airport. In the same
airport- adjacent area is another peaceful retreat, Kanaha Pond State
Wildlife Sanctuary, a good place to watch birds and waterfowl, or just to
relax.
View South Maui Real Estate
Listings
South Maui includes Hawaii's fastest growing urban area, Kihei,
and is the most recently developed part of the island. It can also be said to
include the town and harbor of Ma‘alaea, and it undoubtedly includes the upscale
communities of Wailea and Makena where luxury residences and resort developments
predominate.
Tourism is the primary business of Wailea although there are
many condominium developments and private homes as well.
South Maui’s rapidly increasing
population lives on the leeward side of the island, so it is dry and warm.
Haleakala’s “weather shadow” prevents both rain and trade winds from reaching
the area, but a complex array of winds, some of them also caused by the shape of
the volcano, sweep through the district usually preventing it from being as
hot as Lahaina.
Upcountry Maui
View Upcountry Maui
Real Estate Listings
Upcountry Maui includes the rising, roughly
north-facing flanks of the dormant volcano, Haleakala, which rises over 10,000
feet above sea level. Here, by choosing which way a property faces and how
far up the mountain it is located, you can virtually choose any weather pattern
you like from the still-tropical areas of Ha‘iku to the upper Kula and Crater
Road where there is definitely a winter, albeit very, very mild by Mainland
standards.
The mood of the entire area is country. People who choose to
live in Upcountry Maui are often seeking the quiet of lower population density,
the deep and natural darkness of the night sky, and the simplicity of
communities where everyone knows the neighbors and keeps an eye out for their
well-being. While there are some developments that suggest a suburban
atmosphere, and properties that can genuinely be called estates, the small town
centers - Ha‘iku, Pauwela, Pukalani, Kula, Keokea and particularly Makawao - are
rural and largely determined to stay that way.
For families living in
Upcountry Maui, all levels of public schools and many kinds of private schools
are available in the district.
Parks and open spaces abound throughout
the Upcountry area and, despite the country and ranch atmosphere, so do
sufficient commercial enterprises to handle day-to-day needs. Occasional trips
to Central Maui’s “big box” stores may be called for, but the distance is
not great, and local general stores and specialty shops make it possible to
postpone trips “to town” indefinitely.
Restaurants of all sorts are
nearby in most Upcountry communities but shops catering particularly to tourists
are mostly found in a small area of central Makawao.
Upcountry Maui is
all about getting away from the rush of Modern Hawaii for some people. For
others, it is about the sweeping, stunning views across wide open spaces to the
Pacific. From many places in Upcountry, the island looks empty and silent and
the sea almost always looks peaceful.
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