Can non-interest rate policies stabilize housing markets? Evidence from a panel of 57 economies

•We gauge the effectiveness of non-interest rate policies on housing credit and price.•We use data from 57 economies and periods of up to three decades.•Debt-service-to-income limits lower housing credit growth by 4–6 percentage points.•Housing-related taxes slow housing credit and price growth by 3–4 percentage points.

This paper investigates the effectiveness of nine non-interest rate policies on house prices and housing credit using data from 57 economies and periods of up to three decades. We find that introductions or reductions in the maximum debt-service-to-income ratio, and increases in housing-related taxes, have significant negative effects on housing credit, with a typical tightening action lowering the real credit growth rate by 4–6 percentage points and by 3–4 percentage points, respectively, over the subsequent four quarters. Increases in housing-related taxes moderate house price growth, with a typical increase slowing real house price appreciation by 3–4 percentage points over the same horizon.