PARIS – The vice president and chief financial officer of Norway Savings Bank said Friday that the community bank has made $10 million in loans on average for sales of manufactured housing in the past three years.

“We remain optimistic,” Brian Shibles of Norway Savings Bank said at a news conference Friday to open the three-day New England Premiere Housing Show in Oxford County.

Shibles said there were about $34 million in overall housing loan applications processed this past year by the bank – a 44 percent increase compared to March 31 of last year. For homes being sold by Route 26 businesses, about $3.3 million in loans for manufactured housing construction starts have been processed by the bank this spring, he said.

“The market remains strong,” he told attendees at the news conference at KBS Building Systems on Route 26 in Paris. Dozens of people, including representatives of the participating manufacturing housing businesses, state legislators and others were on hand.

And, if a count of labels placed on each manufactured and HUD home after a state inspection is any indicator of an industry’s success, the manufactured housing business in Oxford County and throughout the state is booming, according to Robert LeClair, executive director of the state Manufactured Housing Board.

The number of labels sold this month is one and one-half times the amount sold last year and already exceeds 2005, LeClair said

The news conference kicked off the start of the sixth annual New England Premiere Housing Show, which draws about 30,000 people to Route 26 in Oxford County each year. Visitors can see more than 50 model homes on display until April 27.

Kelsey Jewell of the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce said she fielded calls Friday morning from as far away as Boston and Portsmouth for information about the show.

Business appeared to be gearing up quickly Friday.

“I like the floor plans. We’re stuck in what we have,” said Richard Thompson of Pittson, who came to tour the models at Twin Town Homes in Oxford on Friday with his wife, Jamie. The pair are considering buying manufactured housing when they sell their stick-built home. They said they were pleased with the capability to customize a manufactured home and the quick turnaround time for construction.

Model homes are open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free guided factory tours at KBS Building Systems in Paris and Keiser Homes on Route 121 in Oxford will be given from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 26 and 27.

The show provides visitors with the opportunity to talk about housing options – whether it’s for a primary or secondary home, a large or small construction project – with those in the business, Jewell said.

The show is the result of a partnership between the chamber and manufacturing home businesses in the area.

Participating exhibitors include: Design First Homes on Route 121 in Mechanic Falls, KBS Building Systems in Paris on Route 26 and the following businesses on Route 26 in Oxford: Keiser Homes Inc., Martins Country Homes, ModSource Modular Sales, Palmer Development, Schiavi Home Builders, Twin Town Homes, Turn Key Homes of Maine and Maine Home Crafters.