145 Listings and a Ban: Ojai Short-Term Rental Report 2026

Thomas Garner
Aug 17
13 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Aerial view of the Ojai Valley between Ojai and Santa Paula, California.

Ojai is a one-hundred-forty-five-listing citrus-valley market on the AirROI extract dated 2026-08-08. The cell is not a beach sample and it is not a high-occupancy desert resort. Annual revenue for a typical active unit lands at $48,651 with a median month of $3,739, an ADR of $440, occupancy of 41.0 percent, and RevPAR of $176. Those figures are the underwriting spine for every other post in this cluster. They belong to an incorporated Ventura County city under the Topa Topa ridge, reached from Los Angeles on US-101 and Highway 33, with wellness, arts-colony downtown, the arcade, and citrus as the product.

Hosts who expect seventy percent occupancy will misread this cell on the first pass. Forty-one percent occupancy is a valley weekend with a real January hole, not a year-round resort. The year clears a forty-five thousand line. The median month sits on a watch line, and this cluster will not pretend the month clears. Supply is flat while revenue moved plus 1.3 percent, a quiet plateau rather than a boom. Peak months are June, August, and March, and the soft months are January, February, and December. Summer is not the hole.

This report names what the numbers say, how the valley calendar runs, what the product looks like, and what this market is not. The city ban, the unincorporated overlay, and the purchase thesis get full treatment in the rules and investment pieces. If you need the ordinance path before you list, start with theOjai STR rules guide. If you are underwriting a purchase against these medians, use theinvestment underwrite. For the soft months in more depth, see theshoulder-season calendar.

What the AirROI extract says for Ojai

The AirROI Ojai page, updated 2026-08-08, reports one hundred forty-five active listings. Average daily rate sits at $440, and occupancy is 41.0 percent. RevPAR is $176. Annual revenue for the active unit lands at $48,651, and the median month is $3,739. That median sits on a watch line. It does not clear a preferred monthly bar, and this cluster will not pretend it does. The year does clear forty-five thousand. Those figures are the locked inputs for this cluster. They are not county visitor-spend totals, and they are not a single operator's portfolio year.

Supply is flat, and revenue moved plus 1.3 percent. In a one-hundred-forty-five-unit valley town, that pair is a plateau with a slight lift, not a boom and not a collapse. Superhost status sits at 60.0 percent, and guest Favorite share is 53.1 percent. Entire homes are 92.4 percent of the stock. Average stay length is 7.8 nights and average lead time is fifty-six days, so the booking conversation is planned valley travel, not same-week impulse. Cleaning fees show a median of $265, already 7.4 percent of gross on the extract. Use that median. The average cleaning figure is an outlier and does not belong in a rate card.

Treat the extract as a competitive set, not a promise. AirROI's Low Keep and any zero-licensed vendor flag are product labels, not City of Ojai law and not the unincorporated overlay. The ordinance path is a ban map, not a vendor badge. The extract is the marketplace path. Confusing the two is how operators underwrite a listing that cannot legally open for weekend nights. The numbers below assume an active, bookable unit in the current set. They do not assume you can join that set tomorrow with a two-night minimum inside city limits.

Peak months are June, August, and March

The seasonal spine of this cell is simple and locked. Peak month is June. The three strongest months are June, August, and March. The three weakest months are January, February, and December. That order is not a marketing suggestion. It is the calendar pattern hosts should price against when they build a year of rates and minimum stays. Peak-season averages on the extract land near $7,531 monthly revenue, 50.8 percent occupancy, and an ADR near $424. Low-season averages sit near $5,317, 44.1 percent occupancy, and an ADR near $382.

Notice that summer is not a dead zone. Hosts who imported a desert-dead-summer story will treat July and August as a hole and then watch the extract prove them wrong. August is inside the peak three, and june is the high. March is a peak, not a leftover shoulder you can ignore. Notice also that low-season ADR does not collapse as hard as some hosts expect. Guests who still book in winter are not always hunting for the cheapest night on the map. They are fewer, and they leave more dark nights between wellness and arts trips from Los Angeles and New York.

For a deeper cut on the soft months, see theshoulder-season calendar for January, February, and December. This market report only needs you to lock the peak-three and low-three labels before you Keep a rate card. Leave out unverified a desert summer hole, and Leave out unverified a beach calendar. Citrus, quiet valley light, and a planned trip from Los Angeles are honest June, August, and March products. They are not weekend adjectives pasted onto a story the guest cannot legally live from a city house under thirty nights.

Occupancy at 41.0 percent is a valley weekend, not a 70 percent resort

Forty-one percent occupancy means well under half the available nights clear and more than half do not, on average, across the year. In a resort with conference demand and year-round air service, operators often underwrite toward the high sixties or low seventies. Ojai is not that product. The valley pulls strong June, August, and March demand from domestic guests, with Los Angeles first and New York second. It does not fill every midweek night in January at the same rate. Valley weekend with a real winter hole is the honest frame.

RevPAR of $176 is the bridge between ADR and occupancy. At $440 ADR and 41.0 percent occupancy, the math is consistent with a market that earns real money on the nights it books and leaves real gaps on the nights it does not. Annual revenue of $48,651 and a median month of $3,739 describe a blended year, not twelve Junes. The year clears forty-five thousand. The median month is a watch figure, not a clearance. If your expense stack assumes full-year resort occupancy, the model will break in the first January and it will break again in December.

Read Superhost at 60.0 percent and Guest Favorite at 53.1 percent next to occupancy, not instead of it. High quality share means the active set is already competitive on review quality and operational reliability. Guests who do book have options that look polished. Filling the remaining dark nights is not a matter of dropping the house into Instant Book and waiting. It is a matter of matching the calendar to the demand that actually exists, then defending rate on the valley months that carry the year, inside a legal product that is mostly thirty nights and up in the city.

Product mix: one- and two-bed volume with a real 30-plus share

One-bedroom units are 37.9 percent of the extract, and one- and two-bedroom stock together is 60.0 percent. Units with three or more bedrooms are 32.4 percent. Homes that sleep two guests are 22.8 percent. Homes that sleep six or more are 33.2 percent. Average guests per stay land near 4.4. Entire homes dominate at 92.4 percent, with houses at 62.8 percent and hotel or boutique product at 13.8 percent. The volume product for this cell is the well-presented one- or two-bedroom house aimed at a couple or small household coming for wellness, arts, and quiet valley time.

Larger houses are present, not the only core. Thirty-two point four percent of the stock is three bedrooms or more, and a third of homes sleep six or more. That mix still supports a family or small group without turning a one-hundred-forty-five-listing citrus town into only couple inventory. When you position a larger property, you are still selling Ojai and the valley, not a beach house and not a wine-country blend. Floor plans, parking, and quiet hours still have to match a small city that also sits next to a destination spa resort.

The minimum-stay mix matters as much as bedroom count. Fifty-five point two percent of listings already show a thirty-plus-night minimum. That is the legal volume product inside City of Ojai for residential and village mixed-use stock. One-night minimums still appear on 15.2 percent of listings, and two-night minimums on 14.5 percent. Those short-stay rows are an extract fact and an illegal-product signal for city houses, not a tactic this report will coach. If you are choosing which unit type to market hardest, start with honest house product and a calendar that matches the ban, not a weekend pitch you cannot advertise.

Instant Book is rare and 55.2 percent already run 30-plus

Instant Book sits at only 7.6 percent. Most hosts in this cell still gate the calendar. Average stay is 7.8 nights, and lead time averages fifty-six days. Minimum-stay rules split in a way that matters for underwriting: 55.2 percent of listings show a thirty-plus-night minimum, 15.2 percent allow one-night stays, 14.5 percent show two nights, and 11.0 percent sit in the seven-to-twenty-nine band. That is already a midterm-leaning market with a real short-stay slice still visible on the extract. It is not a pure impulse cell.

The 7.8-night average stay and fifty-six-day lead time together suggest planned trips, not last-minute app scrolls. Guests are 94.8 percent domestic, with Los Angeles first and New York second. They know the valley well enough to book weeks ahead for peak months. Instant Book at 7.6 percent fits a host base that wants a message thread before the booking locks, especially when the house is a primary home part of the year or sits next to neighbors who care about quiet.

The 55.2 percent already on thirty-plus-night minimums is a structural fact, not a tip. Midterm and remote-work style stays are already the majority path inside the competitive set. If your city house is a thirty-night product, you are not inventing a category. You are joining the legal volume path most of the cell already uses. If a listing still shows a one-night or two-night minimum inside city residential zoning, that is marketplace residue against a ban that also covers advertising. Price and minimums should follow which guest you can actually serve without a citation.

Named operators are concentration, not your year

On the operator side of the extract, Lisa appears with one listing and combined revenue of $527,176. Xclusive Management appears with one listing and $412,984, and adam appears with one listing. Kam appears with one listing, and therese appears with three listings and $222,668. Those are their books on this pull, not your pro forma, not a median you can divide by listing count, and not a franchise map of the valley. Treat them as craft context only.

Name concentration matters because photo quality and review depth in a one-hundred-forty-five-unit set can be driven by a handful of strong operators. It does not mean a new host must hire the same names to reach the median. It means the visual and operational bar in search results is already set by people who know valley light and house craft, not by a national template pasted onto a beach house. When you compare your draft listing to the top of the sort, you are often comparing against that concentrated craft.

Do not underwrite your year as any multi-listing operator total on the extract. Underwrite one unit against $48,651 and $3,739, then decide whether marketing support, cleaning, or a full management split belongs in the expense stack. Portfolio revenue on the extract is a competitive-context number. It is not transferable income. Professional management share at only 2.1 percent and a 4.91 average rating further show that the cash medians already sit inside a review-sensitive set with a thin management layer, so a new listing's ramp is about trust and legal product as much as about ADR.

The ban is the supply gate

City of Ojai is an incorporated Ventura County city. Stays under thirty days are treated as transient, vacation, and short-term rental use. That use is illegal in residential and village mixed-use zoning. Hotels, motels, and bed-and-breakfasts are exempt. Advertising a stay under thirty days is itself a violation. Thirty nights and longer are the city path for ordinary houses. Community Development sits at (805) 646-5581 on the city side of the paper and should hear from you before you list.

The unincorporated Ojai Valley overlay is a different map. Whole-home short-term rentals are banned there except for historic landmarks as of June 19, 2018. Homeshare is a separate permit path with the owner present in the same dwelling. A mailing address that says Ojai is not a license. Meiners Oaks and Oak View are overlay neighbors, not this slug, and City of Ventura short-term vacation rental paper is a different clerk entirely. Screenshot the city line before you price a weekend product.

This market report will not restate every fee and insurance line. For the ordinance path, use theOjai STR rules guide for the city ban and the overlay. For whether one watch-line median month can carry a deal after the parcel test, use the2026 investment underwrite. Exact location is shown on only 15.2 percent of listings, so many guests decide from photos and copy before they ever see a precise map published market year. AirROI Low is not the ordinance, and marketplace density does not override a zoning no.

What this market is not

This is not a beach town. Listing copy that leads with sand, surf, or a borrowed coastal weekend is writing for a different corridor and a different guest. The demand origin is Los Angeles and New York driving or flying toward citrus, quiet, wellness, and an arts-colony downtown, not a beach blend and not a wine loop. Keep the product language on Ojai, the arcade, valley light under Topa Topa, and the house you actually sit in. In one sentence of shape only, some guests treat the ridge light like a mini-Sedona. That is atmosphere, not a desert underwrite and not a Sedona rate card.

This is also not the investment memo. A house can sit on $440 ADR and still fail if the parcel cannot list under thirty nights, if the overlay bans whole-home short-term use, or if the house only works as a second home with occasional June weekends you cannot advertise. The investment post owns purchase underwriting, vacant-risk in January through December lows, and the watch line as thesis. This report owns the competitive set: one hundred forty-five listings, $440 ADR, 41.0 percent occupancy, $176 RevPAR, $48,651 annual, $3,739 median month, peak three of June, August, and March.

If you remember only one frame from the extract, remember this. Ojai is a mid-size, high-ADR, moderate-occupancy citrus valley cell with a real January hole, a real professional photo bar next to Ojai Valley Inn, rare Instant Book, flat supply against a slight revenue lift, and a city ban that makes thirty-plus nights the legal volume product. Price the calendar you have. Market the valley and the house you actually own. Leave the ordinance and the purchase thesis to the posts built for them. Your job is to decide whether this house belongs in the one-hundred-forty-five-listing set as a legal product.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the AirROI Ojai extract show for ADR, occupancy, and annual revenue?

On the AirROI Ojai page updated 2026-08-08, average daily rate is $440, occupancy is 41.0%, and RevPAR is $176. Annual revenue for a typical active unit lands at $48,651, clearing a forty-five-thousand-dollar bar, with a median month of $3,739. There are 145 active listings in the cell, and these figures are marketplace medians, not a promise for every parcel.

Which months are peak and which are soft in Ojai?

The three strongest months are June, August, and March; the three weakest are January, February, and December. Peak-season averages land near $7,531 monthly revenue, 50.8% occupancy, and ADR near $424, while low-season averages sit near $5,317, 44.1% occupancy, and ADR near $382. Summer is not the hole on this market sample.

Is 41.0% occupancy a problem for Ojai hosts?

Forty-one percent occupancy is a valley weekend pattern, not a seventy-percent resort pattern. It means many nights stay empty across the year while booked nights still support a $440 ADR and $176 RevPAR, with the year at $48,651 clearing forty-five thousand. Underwrite the dark nights, especially January, rather than a full-year resort assumption.

What share of Ojai listings already use a thirty-plus-night minimum?

55.2% of listings already show a thirty-plus-night minimum, the legal volume product for ordinary residential and village mixed-use houses inside City of Ojai. One-night minimums still appear on 15.2% of listings and two-night minimums on 14.5%; those short-stay rows are extract facts, not advice to advertise banned nights under thirty days.

Does AirROI Low mean short-term rentals are illegal in Ojai?

No. AirROI Low and a zero-licensed-vendor flag are marketplace product labels, not City of Ojai Resolution 16-07 and not the unincorporated overlay. The city bans stays under thirty days in residential and village mixed-use zones and treats advertising those stays as a violation. Thirty-plus nights remain the legal city path, so confirm the parcel on the city or county map before you list.

Who are the named top operators on the Ojai extract?

Lisa shows one listing at $527,176, and Xclusive Management shows one listing at $412,984. Adam and Kam each show one listing, and Therese shows three listings at $222,668. Those are their individual books on this pull, not a median you can copy, so underwrite a single unit against the market's own $48,651 annual and $3,739 median month instead.

What product mix should hosts expect in the Ojai cell?

Entire homes make up 92.4% of stock, with hotel or boutique product at 13.8%. One-bedroom units are 37.9%, and one- and two-bedroom stock together is 60.0%, while three-plus bedrooms are 32.4%, with average guests near 4.4. Instant Book is only 7.6%, average stay is 7.8 nights, and lead time runs about fifty-six days.

Is Ojai a beach or desert short-term rental market?

No. Ojai is an incorporated Ventura County citrus valley under the Topa Topa ridge, with wellness, an arts-colony downtown, the arcade, and quiet as the product. Guests are 94.8% domestic, led by Los Angeles then New York. It is not beach, not wine country, and not desert; Ojai Valley Inn is the named resort context, and any 'mini-Sedona' comparison is only about ridge light, not an underwriting label.

What is the safest way to summarize what this market is and isn't?

Ojai is a mid-size, high-ADR, moderate-occupancy citrus-valley cell of 145 listings on the AirROI extract dated 2026-08-08, with a real January hole, a real professional-photo bar set by Ojai Valley Inn nearby, rare Instant Book, and a city ban that makes thirty-plus nights the legal volume product. Decide whether a given house belongs in that 145-listing set as a legal product before underwriting it against these numbers.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

An Ojai listing marketed as a weekend beach escape is describing a stay this city's own ordinance bans in residential zoning. The honest product here is citrus, wellness, and valley quiet on a legal thirty-plus-night calendar.

Crest & Cove Creative writes Ojai listing copy around what this market actually is — citrus valley, arts-colony downtown, June-August-March peaks — never a beach or desert story borrowed from somewhere else. Start at crestcove.co/audit or call (256) 998-7502.

Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.