Get the garden hose out and give the banks a cold shower of reality.
That's what Labor backbencher Ed Husic says the banking regulator should do to help stem a housing market frenzy.
He believes the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority is taking too long to deal with swelling prices caused by investors getting easy access to loans and leaving many first-home buyers locked out of the market.
The sustainability of rising prices in Sydney and Melbourne was of great concern, especially since it was creating social issues.
"It means that people get driven further and further on to the urban fringes," Mr Husic told parliament on Monday, responding to a report into the regulator from a parliamentary committee he co-chaired.
The response from the banks to regulator requests for scrutiny of their mortgage practices was like getting a standard, non-committal automatic reply email, he said.
"It is well and truly time for APRA to take the garden hose out and apply the regulatory cold shower on this frenzy that is occurring," Mr Husic said.
Treasury boss John Fraser earlier told a Senate committee he was concerned about the amount of money being poured into the housing market with interest rates so low.
He said there was little sign of a housing bubble outside Sydney and the higher-priced end of the Melbourne market, and he was concerned about the size of investment in property buying as well as restoration projects.
"It does worry me that the historically low level of interest rates are encouraging people to perhaps over-invest in housing," Mr Fraser said.
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