Investors are testing the resolve of the Reserve Bank of Australia, piling into loans for housing at the fastest annual pace in over six years.
The RBA has already described the composition of the mortgage market as "unbalanced".
Its own figures released on Tuesday showed debt owed by housing investors rose by a further 0.8 per cent in August - double the growth rate of owner-occupiers.
Investor housing credit increased to 9.2 per cent over the year, which was its fastest annual pace since April 2008 and before the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.
The growth in debt of those living in their property, rather than renting it out, was a more modest 5.4 per cent over the year.
RBC Capital Markets head of strategy Su-Lin Ong believes the pace of investor credit underpins the increasing likelihood of so-called soft macroprudential tools targeting the housing investor sector of lending.
It would mean tightening the lending criteria of borrowers.
Not that RBA governor Glenn Stevens appears totally convinced about the whole idea.
He told a conference last week he has a "certain scepticism" about macroprudential tools as a panacea, but remains open to using them if it seems sensible to do so.
Ms Ong said the RBA clearly wants investors to participate, but possibly not to the extent that is emerging at present.
"Finding the right balance may prove difficult," she said.
Even so, Ms Ong says the combined credit growth of housing - 0.6 per cent in August to 6.7 per cent annually - remains well below the heady pace of 2002-2005, although debt burdens have increased substantially.
Annual housing credit peaked at just under 22 per cent in March 2004.
The threat of some tinkering to lending doesn't appear to have had an impact on consumers more widely.
The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence reading rose by a further 0.7 per cent in the past week.
Commonwealth Securities economist Savanth Sebastian said housing activity will continue to be the backbone of the economy over the coming year, but expects the RBA will sit on the sidelines with regards to interest rates over the rest of 2014.
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