A 2003 IMF study of real house price cycles for 14 countries over 30 years found that only 40 per cent of house price booms ended in bust. An examination by the OECD of 17 countries over a similar period showed that two-thirds of real house price booms ended in bust.
On 20 June the Eurogroup reached an agreement on the possibility of using the resources of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to recapitalize banks directly under certain stringent conditions for a maximum of up to € billion.