Local home sales, prices, up again in October

Good morning! Also today...time to pay your property tax...elderly man killed by cement truck crossing Monticello Avenue....second phase of Queens Lake restoration approved.

Nov 21, 2025

Home sales increased again in October from a year ago, and the median sales price increased by double digits in Williamsburg and York County, according to a report released Thursday by the Virginian Realtors group.

Consumers are seeing more inventory on the market, if they can afford current mortgage rates. Home listings across Virginia increased 25.7%, according to the Realtors.

“Mortgage rates remaining in the low 6% range have encouraged potential buyers and allowed for renewed motivation among some sellers,” said Virginia Realtors Chief Economist Ryan Price. “While the recent government shutdown has restricted insight into some economic trends, rising prices and a cooling labor market continue to pose challenges.”

In James City County median sales prices remained basically flat, but were still the highest in the area, at $484,900. James City County home sales rose 15.38%, to 135 homes, from October of 2024.

Williamsburg, which has a smaller base and is subject to more fluctuation month to month, recorded a 130 percent rise in home sales and a 13.79% increase in median sales prices. The 23 homes sold last month had a median price of $425,000.

York County sales slipped by 4.55% to 84 homes, with a median value of $454,900, up 10.09%, according to the real estate industry group.

It’s every homeowner’s favorite time of the year -- time to get your property tax checks in the mail.

Williamsburg personal property and real estate taxes are due Dec. 1. James City and York County taxes are due Dec. 5.

To avoid late fees, your payment envelope must be postmarked by the deadline date. You may also pay online on the respective locality’s official website.

James City man crossing street with walker dies after being struck by cement truck

This has been a bad week for serious accidents on Monticello Avenue in James City County.

Perry Allen Mendel, Sr., 66, of James City County, was struck by a cement truck Wednesday when he tried to cross the road using a walker in front of Monticello Marketplace, where Publix and Chick-Fil-a are located, police said. He died from his wounds Thursday.

Police said the driver will not be charged because Mendel was not following traffic regulations.

On Tuesday, a 62-year-old man was struck as he tried to ride his E-Bike through a red light at the intersection of Monticello Avenue and Casey Boulevard near the new WaWa gas station. That accident happened before sunrise at 6:06 in the morning, police said.

He was struck by a GMC Envoy being driven by a 72-year-old York County man, who had a green light, police said. They said the driver immediately stopped, as did other witnesses, and called for help.

The victim was taken by helicopter to the Medical Center of Virginia in critical condition. Westbound traffic on Monticello was temporarily diverted.

Police would not release the names of any of the people involved in that accident.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Nate Green told us no charges have been placed pending the results of the crash investigation.

Aerial view of Queens Lake silting. (photo courtesy Doug Ellis)

As expected, York County supervisors approved a $1.655 million contract to remediate silting that is filling up Queens Lake.

The contract with Environmental Quality Resources LLC will restore five streams within the Queens Lake subdivision that have been pouring silt into the eponymous lake.

It’s the second part of a two-phase project in the subdivision. The first phase is to fix the century-old earthen dam at the lake and its spillway, for another $1.4 million. That work was awarded to Howard Brothers Contractor, Inc.

The dam doesn’t comply with updated regulations enacted by the state five years ago. That’s a problem because Route 716, a two-lane road that runs over the dam, is used by motorists as well as school bus and emergency vehicle traffic.

The dam that creates the 70-acre lake was built decades before modern storm water management practices, which now use retention ponds to capture water and silt from storm water runoff, according to Douglas Ellis, the former president of the subdivision and lake manager. Storm water runs into the lake, which feeds into Queens Creek, part of the federally protected Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Queens Lake handles the storm water that flows from I-64, the Colonial Parkway and several smaller neighborhoods, according to Robert L. Krieger, III, York’s public works director.

Still left to be resolved is how to dredge the silt that has been filling in the lake for decades, leaving the upper part of the lake just a few feet deep in sections.

“What was waterfront is now a swamp,” Ellis said.

But fixing that problem, according to Krieger, could cost upwards of $17 million. The county could be eligible for federal grants that would pick up as much as 75% of the cost. York is waiting to hear from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers how much the fix would cost.

Where would you be if you could only be successful at your job 66.31% of the time?

By Lynda Harrill

That’s the third grade reading pass rate in Williamsburg-James City County Schools. In other words, one out of every three third graders has not been taught to read at grade level.

In a district that touts academic excellence and calls itself a premier school division, this statistic should stop us in our tracks. Is 66.31% excellent? Is being tied for 62^nd out of 131 school divisions premier? Is spending $2,350 more per elementary student than York County Schools to achieve a passing rate 18 percentage points lower excellent?

Third grade reading isn’t just a benchmark -- it’s a bellwether. Children who aren’t reading on grade level by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school. That means the seeds of future academic failure are being sown before students even reach middle school. They won’t succeed in school or in life because WJCC failed to teach them to read adequately.

Read full essay here.