Semipolar AlN homoepitaxial films, which are expected to act as underlying layers of highly efficient light emitters, are fabricated on 15 degrees-off (0 0 01), (1 (1) over bar 0 2), and (1 1 (2) over bar 2) AlN substrates using the metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy method. In conventional (0 0 0 1) AlN growth, low reactor pressures are preferred to enhance the migration of Al adatoms and to suppress parasitic reactions between trimethylaluminum and ammonia. In contrast, low-pressure growth generates numerous pits on the surface of semipolar AlN grown homoepitaxially, which are derived from defects formed in the initial growth stage. Herein we experimentally demonstrate that higher-pressure growth can drastically decrease the pit density. A higher-pressure growth realizes atomically smooth surfaces, strong near-band-edge emissions with narrow line widths (similar to 1-2 meV), and well-suppressed deep level emissions. The optimal reactor pressure to eliminate pits is 500 Torr in terms of the growth rate and nucleation density.