Banks had granted loans worth 400 million euros as part of the "First Home" scheme by the end of November, according to data from the SME Guarantee Fund (FNGIMM), which provides guarantees for the loans.

This means 40% of the 1 billion-euro credit allocated by the Government for the "First Home" scheme in 2009 has been used up.

The scheme was launched five months ago. The Fund provided 9,467 guarantees (the number of loans granted by banks), half of which were used for the purchase of two-room apartments.

Around 23% of guarantees were provided for the acquisition of three-room homes, and 15% for studios, said Rodica Ionescu, advisor or the FNCIMM president. The average value of loans granted under the scheme is 42,000 euros, with the maximum value of the loan being 57,000 euros.

Only 28% of the apartments purchased via the "First Home" scheme are new ones, built after 2008, while 3.4% are located in buildings yet to be completed.

Ionescu says it is normal for most of the homes in the scheme to have been built before 2008, because the buildings were immediately available, with apartment prices close to 60,000 euros.

"According to our data, the price of a square metre is around 1,000 euros in Bucharest both for old and for new apartments, with the difference being that for old apartments we are talking about the usable area, and about built area for new ones," Ionescu says.

One quarter of loans granted target buildings with acquisition prices between 50,000 and 60,000 euros, 22% of the apartments cost between 40,000 and 50,000 euros, while the rest had a price of less than 30,000 euros.

"One third of 'First Home' loans were contracted by clients in Bucharest and Ilfov county, whilst Cluj, Timis and Brasov accounted for an around 5% share.

The fund has agreements signed for the "First Home" scheme with 19 banks, of which