The warning from the IMF shows how an acceleration in global house prices from already high levels has emerged as one of the major threats to economic stability, with countries making limited progress in keeping them under control.

Min Zhu, the IMF's deputy managing director, said the tools for containing housing booms were "still being developed" but that "this should not be an excuse for inaction".

House prices "remain well above the historical averages for a majority of countries" in relation to incomes and rents, Mr Zhu said in a speech to the Bundesbank last week, which was only released on Wednesday because it clashed with a European Central Bank announcement.