if the government wanted to they could allow rates to fall further, and to minimize risk to house prices rising too much, make conditions on the banks on % of lending..
China do it on property investments so maybe a 50% max lend on your second investment property, therefore it would not stop first home buyers etc, but stop a lot of property speculation thats going on...
Tightening the % lent also means if prices rise too far then not many can purchase , and that may keep prices lower ... 10% deposit should be minnimum... none of this 3% etc
