Another instrument is the countercyclical capital buffer, or CCB, which is designed to boost financial system resilience by tightening capital requirements in times of increased lending. The CCB is scheduled to become legally effective in Germany on 1 January 2016, though no decision has been taken hitherto as to its exact level.
However, these instruments are no more than a rudimentary toolkit for combatting systemic risk emanating from real estate markets. And yet the recent financial crisis clearly demonstrated just how important the residential property market is for financial stability.