The conversation happens late — usually after a seller has already settled on a number. A buyer's agent asks a straightforward question about zoning, and the answer shifts everything: the comparable sales the seller relied on came from a different category of property. The price needs to move. Some buyers step back entirely.
That scenario is playing out across Kihei in 2026, and it is not the result of rising interest rates or a general market correction. It is the result of one piece of legislation — Ordinance No. 5909, better known as Bill 9 — that split the Kihei condo market into two distinct transactions the moment Mayor Richard Bissen signed it into law on December 15, 2025.
The Line That Separates Two Different Sales
Kihei has always had two categories of vacation-rentable condos. Hotel-zoned units hold their short-term rental rights through zoning. That designation is unchanged by Bill 9 and remains intact regardless of how county policy evolves. Kihei Akahi, Mana Kai, Kamaole Beach Royale, Royal Mauian, and roughly 26 hotel-zoned communities across the corridor fall into this category.
The second category is the Minatoya List: apartment-zoned condos (A-1 and A-2 zoning) that were grandfathered into vacation rental use through a 2001 county legal opinion. In Kihei, over 60% of vacation-rental condos belong to this group. The names are familiar to anyone who has worked this market for more than a season — Kamaole Sands, Hale Kamaole, Maui Hill, Maui Vista, Maui Sunset, Kihei Bay Surf, Kihei Resort, and others.
Bill 9 phases out short-term rental rights at Minatoya List properties. For South Maui, the amortization deadline is January 1, 2031. That is not immediate, but it is enacted law — and the market adjusted to that certainty long before most sellers did.
| Minatoya List (Apartment-Zoned) | Hotel-Zoned | |
|---|---|---|
| STR rights after Bill 9 | Phased out by Jan. 1, 2031 | Unaffected |
| Representative Kihei complexes | Kamaole Sands, Maui Hill, Hale Kamaole, Kihei Bay Surf | Kihei Akahi, Mana Kai, Kamaole Beach Royale |
| Price direction since early 2024 | Down approximately 30% | Down approximately 12% |
| Days on market (15-month comparison through mid-2025) | Significantly extended | Up from 76 to 108 days (+42%) |
What the February 2026 Vote Settled
For most of 2025, some Minatoya List owners waited on the possibility that the county would create new H-3 and H-4 hotel zoning districts — a compromise that could have allowed thousands of apartment-zoned units to apply for rezoning and preserve their rental rights. A county Temporary Investigative Group had identified roughly 4,500 properties as candidates.
On February 24, 2026, the Maui Planning Commission voted to reject that framework, declining to recommend the bill that would have created the new hotel zones. The County Council now needs a supermajority to revive any version of that approach. With that vote, the most accessible path to a regulatory fix closed for now.
Lawsuits have been filed — owners at the Kaanapali Royal complex filed the first in December 2025, arguing the ordinance constitutes a regulatory taking. Those cases will move slowly. A seller in 2026 cannot price for an outcome a court has not reached, and may not reach for years. The sound basis for pricing and disclosure is the law as currently written, not what litigation might eventually unwind.
What Sellers Are Now Required to Address
This is where the transaction diverges most sharply from pre-2025 practice. A Kihei condo seller whose unit is on the Minatoya List is selling a property with a defined rental runway — a fixed period during which short-term rental income continues, followed by a phase-out. That runway is a material fact. Buyers evaluating the unit as an investment will price it based on that horizon. Buyers purchasing for personal use or long-term rental will price it differently still.
Disclosure of zoning classification, current rental permit status, and the property's position relative to Ordinance No. 5909 is not optional language to add late in the transaction. It is the opening frame for every qualified conversation with a serious buyer. Sellers who omit it will face it during escrow or, worse, after a deal has begun to dissolve.
Hotel-zoned sellers face a different challenge. The zoning itself is sound, but hotel-zoned condos have absorbed real market pressure through broader association with Kihei's inventory surge. In the 15 months following mid-May 2024, the median sales price for hotel-zoned condos in Kihei fell to approximately $950,000, down from $1,074,500 in the prior comparable period, while days on market climbed from 76 to 108. A seller of a hotel-zoned unit who prices as if it is still 2023 will simply sit.
How to Price When the Comparables Come From Two Different Markets
The most expensive mistake a Kihei condo seller makes in 2026 is pulling comparable sales without filtering by zoning category first. A Minatoya-listed unit and a hotel-zoned unit on the same stretch of South Kihei Road are no longer the same asset class. Running comps across both categories produces a median that accurately describes neither.
For Minatoya List sellers, the remaining rental runway is the central pricing variable. A unit with documented short-term rental income history and a clear operational path through 2031 commands more than one that has sat vacant or shifted to long-term use. The buyer pool for these units has also changed: investors who once chased short-term yield are more selective, and the buyers who remain tend to be long-term holders or owner-occupants who have already made peace with the 2031 transition. Pricing that speaks to that buyer — emphasizing livability, building condition, reserve fund health, and AOAO management quality — will close faster than pricing built around a rental income projection that buyer has already discounted.
For hotel-zoned sellers, the moment calls for clarity, not subtlety. As the Minatoya category loses buyer confidence, hotel-zoned inventory becomes the default choice for anyone seeking a legally stable short-term rental position in Kihei. That is a genuine competitive advantage — but only if the listing makes hotel-zoning status explicit and prominent from the first day on market.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I confirm whether my unit is on the Minatoya List?
The official Short Term Occupancy List is published through the Maui County Department of Planning, which can be reached at [email protected]. Your title report and Tax Map Key (TMK) number are the fastest tools for confirming your exact zoning classification — A-1, A-2, or hotel.
Does Bill 9 mean I cannot rent my Minatoya unit immediately?
No. Units on the Minatoya List in South Maui may continue operating as transient vacation rentals through January 1, 2031 under the amortization schedule established by Ordinance No. 5909. The legislation changes the long-term status of that use, not the near-term ability to rent.
What about the proposed H-3 and H-4 hotel zoning districts?
The Maui Planning Commission rejected the bill that would have created those new zoning classifications in February 2026. The County Council retains the ability to pursue the approach with a supermajority vote, but no vote is currently scheduled. Individual zoning amendment applications remain an option for some properties, but that process typically takes years.
Should the pending lawsuits affect my pricing decision?
Only as background context. Kaanapali Royal owners filed the first suit in December 2025, with others possible. Legal challenges will proceed on their own timeline. Sellers pricing a transaction this year are best served by the certainty of the enacted law, not by an outcome that has not been adjudicated.
If prices have already dropped, have sellers who waited missed the window?
The correction has happened, but it has not closed the market. Inventory remains elevated, and buyers are using their options — Maui condo listings grew from 536 in April 2024 to over 900 by April 2025. Sellers who enter with accurate zoning knowledge, current documentation, and precise comparable discipline are transacting. Those who do not are the ones reducing price after sixty or ninety days on market.
If you own a condo in Kihei and are weighing what a sale realistically looks like in this market, Lena Walleng Island Properties works with sellers who want clear positioning, accurate pricing, and representation built around how this market actually functions right now. Let's connect.
