This paper studies the role of collateral using the near-universe of corporate loans from the euro area credit registry. With detailed information on all types of collateral pledged by firms, as well as the values of individual collateral assets, we examine the effect of collateral values on firm borrowing by directly linking credit amounts to their corresponding collateral values. For the first time, we provide evidence of the feedback loop between real estate values and borrowing for real estate investments. We present two main results. First, we estimate that the elasticity of credit amounts with respect to collateral values is 0.18-0.23. Second, we show that increases in collateral values are followed by greater borrowing for real estate investment and construction purposes, and that these effects are even more pronounced for firms operating outside the real estate sector.