In Ireland we've got a cap of 3.5X income (which banks can sometimes stretch to 4.5 income but it's pretty difficult to do due to government limitations) and th

In Ireland we've got a cap of 3.5X income (which banks can sometimes stretch to 4.5 income but it's pretty difficult to do due to government limitations) and that hasn't seemed to have helped house prices much (although it was iirc more to stop a housing bubble and crash rather than to keep house prices down). It's just meant that it's easier for investment firms and cash-buyers to outbid everybody else.