Waiheʻe-Waiehu Ranks 3rd Best for Home Ownership in State

Waiheʻe, Maui. File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

The Waiheʻe-Waiehu area of Maui was ranked as number three on a list of best places for home ownership in Hawaiʻi, according to a new list published by the NerdWallet consumer advocacy site.

The site touts itself as a location that “crunches numbers” and provides “unfiltered results” to money questions relating to banking, credit cards, education, health care, insurance, investments, mortgages, shopping and travel.

According to NerdWallet, the ranking was determined by analyzing the 49 places in Hawaiʻi with more than 5,000 residents.

The analysis attempted to determine which places had characteristics that were the most favorable to homebuyers by focusing on three main questions: (1) Are homes available?; (2) Can you afford to live there?; and (3) Is the city growing?

The Waiehu Golf Course is among the attractions in the Waiheʻe-Waiehu community. Photo by Wendy Osher.

According to the site, the Waiheʻe-Waiehu area had an 81.6% home ownership rate, a median monthly household income of $7,177, and a median home value of $502,100.

“The costs of owning a home in the Waiheʻe-Waiehu area take up just 27.3% of the median monthly household income — the lowest percentage on the list,” according to the site.

The area was one of only three neighbor island location included on the list, and was ranked behind Oʻahu’s Kapolei and Ocean Pointe in Ewa Beach, which were ranked first and second respectively. Other neighbor island communities included on the list were number seven ranked Kalaoa and number nine ranked Hawaiian Paradise Park–both on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

“Hawaiʻi’s median home values are nearly three times higher than the national average, making relocation to the Aloha State a major challenge,” said NerdWallet’s Sara Collins.

“Resources like down-payment assistance and home-buyer education classes help to ease the process,” she said, noting that the new ranking helped to determine which communities offer the best conditions for buying a home.

The full report is available online.