Affluent buyers are entering Vancouver’s luxury real estate market with grape expectations. According to a new report from The Globe and Mail, the wine cellar has become “almost mandatory” for homes valued at C$3 million (US$2.25 million) or more. More: Vancouver Rises to the Top for the Wealthy Christa Frosch, a real estate and vineyard specialist with Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, told the publication that the standardization of the wine cellar as an upmarket amenity in Vancouver is tied directly to the international demographic of the luxury homebuyer. “[W]e have to remember that Vancouver is a global market, on par with London or New York,” Ms. Frosch says. “The majority of buyers are not local. They come from all over the world. They expect a wine cellar.”
While a certain amount of cellar envy is certainly tied to staying on trend, it’s not all for show. A report this year from the France-based trade group Vinexpo found that Canada was one of the top global consumers of imported wines by volume and predicted that the nation’s overall wine consumption would grow by an additional 7.8% by 2018. [The Globe and Mail]More: Chinese Crave Vancouver’s Luxury Homes