Wayne Byres says interventions in the housing market are among his most important achievements as chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. And even if surging interest rates trigger loan losses for the banks, he is confident the financial system remains sound, relieving any pressure on his yet-to-be-named successor.

After most of his eight years at the helm of APRA coincided with a housing price bubble inflated by the Reserve Bank’s extraordinarily loose monetary policy, he departs at the end of next week as national house prices are plunging after a series of aggressive rate increases that analysts expect will jack up the banks’ non-performing loans.