This year Erste Bank has set up 965 home loans to area residents, up 41 percent from the same time period last year, according to a bank press release.

The average loan with home purchase or a construction mortgage was worth $74,139.46. Loans without mortgages averaged $20,728.79

Erste Bank reduced the interest rates on new housing and housing ECO loans by 0.3 percent at the beginning of the year. Currently, its interest rates for new home loans start at 4.07%, with housing ECO loans starting at 3.87 percent.

Housing ECO loans can be used to buy energy-efficient homes or to make an existing home more efficient by adding insulation, installing renewable-energy equipment and other eco-friendly upgrades, according to the release.