Million-dollar US home loans surging ahead

[WASHINGTON] Banks in the United States are handing out mortgages of as much as US$10 million to the wealthy in record numbers while first-time homebuyers struggle to get loans.

Erin Gorman, managing director at Bank of New York Mellon, said she's fielding more requests for home loans of at least US$2 million than ever before. She recently provided a mortgage of more than US$6 million for a client's purchase of a second property in Colorado.

"These high-net-worth borrowers do act differently than first-time buyers, who borrow because they have to," said Ms Gorman, who serves as the national mortgage sales director at Bank of New York Mellon's wealth management group based in Boston. "High-net-worth borrowers don't have to borrow. They choose to, so they're very strategic about what, why, and when they borrow."