Call Now
Malibu, California · Neighborhood guides

Best Neighborhoods in Malibu

3 neighborhoods we show in person, and the one we'd pick for each kind of buyer.

Mediterranean-style houses with tile roofs and a row of tall palms on a bluff, lit gold by the late sun under a blue sky
Point DumeBest for families
A white Spanish Colonial house with a red tile roof and a tall palm, on a lawn above a sandy beach, with a hillside behind
Malibu ColonyMost walkable
A row of beachfront houses and a low hotel along a sandy shore below green hills, seen across deep blue water on a clear day
Carbon BeachMost affordable on the sand
Median askingMalibu$5.3M327 for sale
See homes

Where to live in Malibu. The short answer.

The best Malibu neighborhood depends on what you want: Point Dume for acre lots, quiet streets and a public elementary school on the point, the Malibu Colony for a guarded beach house near the Cross Creek shops, and Carbon Beach for a house or condo on the sand east of the pier. As of September 2026, Point Dume houses were asking about $3 million to $35 million, Colony houses about $8 million to $22 million, and most Carbon Beach listings were condos near the pier. All three sit at least partly in a CAL FIRE Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone and run mostly on septic, so I get an insurance quote and the septic records first.

Our picks in Malibu

Point Dume

Best for families

Malibu Elementary, a public school, is on the point itself, and most houses sit on lots of about an acre with room for a pool. You'll drive for groceries, and because of past fires, insurance is a big part of the budget.

Read the guide ›Point Dume

Biggest lots

Of the 48 houses for sale on September 25, 2026, three out of four sat on 40,000 square feet or more, and the median lot was about 47,700 square feet. On Carbon Beach and in the Colony, the lots are narrow and you're paying for the beach frontage.

Read the guide ›Point Dume

Lowest prices

Condos, townhomes and manufactured homes on the point were asking about $750,000 to $4 million as of September 2026, the lowest starting price in our three Malibu guides. Houses there started around $3 million.

Read the guide ›Malibu Colony

Most walkable

Malibu Colony Plaza, with a Ralphs, is right outside the gate, and the Country Mart, Whole Foods and Legacy Park are a short walk across PCH. That's rare for Malibu beachfront; from Point Dume, groceries are about a 3-mile drive away in Trancas.

Read the guide ›Malibu Colony

Most private on the beach

It's one private road with a 24-hour guard, no through traffic and no public path to the sand through the gate. The beach below the mean high tide line is still public, and the Colony is inside the Civic Center septic ban, so you may have to pay a sewer assessment before the end of the decade.

Read the guide ›Carbon Beach

Most affordable on the sand

The older condo buildings near the pier are usually the cheapest way to live on the sand here. On September 25, 2026, eight condos were asking about $1.1 million to $7.9 million. PCH runs right past the front door, and most lots are in FEMA flood zone VE on the ocean side.

Read the guide ›
Live from the MLS

Malibu by the numbers.

All of Malibu$5.3M
  1. The Colony$12.12M
  2. All of Malibu$5.3M
  3. Point Dume$4.12M

All of Malibu$1,657
  1. The Colony$3,213
  2. All of Malibu$1,657
  3. Point Dume$1,640

All of Malibu3,304 sq ft
  1. The Colony3,720 sq ft
  2. All of Malibu3,304 sq ft
  3. Point Dume2,265 sq ft

All of Malibu96 days
  1. All of Malibu96 days
  2. The Colony95 days
  3. Point Dume93 days

Asking prices for homes on the market right now in each neighborhood we cover, not sale prices. Updated Oct 17, 2026

See all 327 Malibu homes

All Malibu homes in Explore

Slava Ploshkin, Realtor

Still deciding? Ask me.

I’m a Long Beach Realtor and I work Malibu too. Tell me what you’re after and I’ll help you get there.

Call (424) 400-9003

Slava Ploshkin · DRE #02323623English and Russian

Every neighborhood, side by side.

Point DumeAcre lots on the headland between Zuma Beach and Paradise CoveRead the guide ›Carbon BeachA mile and a half of houses on the sand, east of the Malibu PierRead the guide ›Malibu ColonyMalibu's original gated beach colony, next to the lagoon and SurfriderRead the guide ›
Median asking
$4.12M—$12M
Homes for sale
90—8
Best for
Acre lots and a public school on the pointA house or condo on the sand east of the pierA guarded beach house a short walk from shops
Typical homes
Houses on about an acre, plus condos and manufactured homesNarrow houses over the sand; older condos by the pierBeachfront row on the sand, inland row across the road
Asking prices (Sept 25, 2026)
Most houses $3M to $35M; condos and manufactured $750K to $4MEight condos $1.1M to $7.9M; one house over $10MEight houses, about $8M to $22M
Walk to
A small strip at Heathercliff Road; groceries are a driveNobu and the foot of the pier, from the west endRalphs, the Cross Creek shops, the lagoon and Surfrider
Nearest public elementary (SMMUSD)
Malibu Elementary, on the point itselfWebster Elementary is the closestWebster Elementary, under a mile away
Sewer or septic
Generally septic; check capacity before an ADUSeptic; a PCH sewer is proposed for the east endSeptic under a 2009 ban; draft sewer deadline Aug 2031
Flood zone (FEMA)
Not covered in our guide; check the addressVE on the sand side, X by the highwayVE on the beachfront row, X on the inland row
Fire zone (CAL FIRE) and recent fires
Very High; the 2018 Woolsey Fire burned homes herePartly Very High; 2025 fire destroyed homes on the east endPartly Very High; no losses reported in Woolsey, Franklin or Palisades

See Malibu for yourself.

A wooden pier runs out over calm blue water from a sandy beach with rocks, with hills and houses along the coast behind
Point DumeLate afternoon at the Paradise Cove pier, on the east side of Point Dume
Photo: David Jones, CC BY 2.0
People stroll a wooden pier under strings of lights toward two white buildings at its end, under a pink evening sky
Carbon BeachString lights over the Malibu Pier at dusk, where Carbon Beach begins
Photo: Jeremy (jthoel), CC BY 2.0
Still lagoon water framed by green coastal shrubs and golden grasses, with low houses and trees on the far shore under a pale sky
Malibu ColonyMarsh grass and still water at Malibu Lagoon, the Colony's neighbor, on a June evening
Photo: Steven Lek, CC BY-SA 4.0

Questions & answers

Point Dume, for most families. Malibu Elementary, a public school, opened on the point in 2019, lots of about an acre are common, and a protected headland and two big beaches are minutes away. Malibu Middle and Malibu High share a campus on Morning View Drive. The downsides are driving for errands, Pacific Coast Highway as the only practical route, and the cost of fire insurance.

Read the Point Dume guide

Where we check the facts

The facts on this page (schools, zones, prices) come from the official records below. We double-check them before every showing.

Show all 22 sourcesShow fewer
Photo credits (9)