2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  For example, in Finland the market conditions in the metropolitan areas are diverging from the conditions prevailing in areas where the population is diminishing. The largest housing loans are concentrated in the biggest cities and growth centres (slide 30). In these centres, house prices are also highest (slides 31). Is there a need for public intervention?
There is a strong public interest in preventing excessive credit growth and leverage. Macroprudential policy plays a key role in pursuing that objective. Housing market-related tools, such as maximum loan-to-value ratios, minimum risk weights for mortgage loans and countercyclical capital buffers, have recently been introduced in the toolkits of designated macroprudential authorities, including the Financial Supervisory Authority in Finland (slides 32–33).