Ellie Mae has selected Dan Madden to serve as executive vice president and chief financial officer.

“I am excited to join Ellie Mae at such a pivotal time for the company,” said Madden. “Ellie Mae has been an industry leader for two decades and I’m thrilled to join the seasoned team as we continue on the path together toward transforming the mortgage industry.” He will report to Jonathan Corr, Ellie Mae’s president and CEO, and start with the firm next month.

Madden serves as chief financial officer for Revel Systems, a cloud-based POS platform, where he leads the growing organization’s finance team. Prior to joining Revel, he was the CFO at Cepheid, a publicly traded leading molecular diagnostics company; and VP finance and corporate controller at Symmetricom, where Madden led the company’s finance, accounting and investor relations functions. Previously, Madden worked at Sonic Solutions, Advanced Fibre Communications, and McKesson. Madden began his career with Ernst & Young and holds a bachelor’s of science in business administration from California State University, Sacramento.

“Ellie Mae is leading the industry as we drive toward our mission of providing the true digital mortgage to lenders of all sizes,” said Jonathan Corr, president and CEO, Ellie Mae. “Dan’s extensive financial, operational and strategic experience coupled with his knowledge of technology and SaaS businesses will be a huge asset to Ellie Mae as we continue to grow. We look forward to having Dan’s leadership and expertise on our team.”

Mortgage delinquencies fell by 8.2 percent in October are now down by nearly 18 percent from the same time last year. Serious delinquencies, loans 90 or more days past due, fell by 14,000 from last month, and 90,000 year over year, a 12-year low.

Improvements in hurricane-related delinquencies associated with Harvey and Irma, which spiked in late 2017, are contributing to the strong year-over-year improvements. Despite foreclosure starts seeing a monthly increase from September's nearly 18-year low, the number of loans in active foreclosure fell slightly from September and has decreased by 24 percent from last year

Last, prepayment activity, driven primarily by housing turnover, climbed 14 percent, but remains 29 percent below last year's level.

National housing statistics at a glance are as follows:

• Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 3.64%
  Month-over-month change: -8.19%
  Year-over-year change: -17.93%
• Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 0.52%
  Month-over-month change: -0.54%
  Year-over-year change: -24.24%
• Total U.S. foreclosure starts: 50,600
  Month-over-month change: 26.50%
  Year-over-year change: 0.80%
• Monthly prepayment rate: 0.80%
  Month-over-month change: 13.59%
  Year-over-year change: -28.67%
• Foreclosure sales as % of 90+: 1.95%
  Month-over-month change: 27.74%
  Year-over-year change: 15.32%
• Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 1,884,000
  Month-over-month change: -165,000
  Year-over-year change: -378,000
• Number of properties that are 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: 499,000
  Month-over-month change: -14,000
  Year-over-year change: -90,000
• Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 267,000
  Month-over-month change: -1,000
  Year-over-year change: -81,000
• Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure: 2,152,000
  Month-over-month change: -165,000
  Year-over-year change: -458,000

Housing Statistics, by state, are as follows:

With the cost of home ownership on the rise, it’s time for the Federal Reserve to reconsider its approach to monetary policy.

The average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 4.83 percent in October from 4.63 percent in September, according to Freddie Mac. The average commitment rate for all of 2017 was 3.99 percent. First-time buyers were responsible for 31 percent of sales in October, down from last month, and a year ago (32 percent). NAR's 2018 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers revealed that the annual share of first-time buyers was 33 percent.

"Rising interest rates and increasing home prices continue to suppress the rate of first-time homebuyers. Home sales could further decline before stabilizing,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. “The Federal Reserve should, therefore, re-evaluate its monetary policy of tightening credit, especially in light of softening inflationary pressures, to help ease the financial burden on potential first-time buyers and assure a slump in the market causes no lasting damage to the economy," said Yun.

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 1.4 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.22 million in October. Sales are down 5.1 percent compared with the same time period a year earlier (5.5 million in October 2017).

An increased in the size of the housing inventory, however, has brought more buyers to the market.

"After six consecutive months of decline, buyers are finally stepping back into the housing market," said Yun. "Gains in the Northeast, South and West--a reversal from last month's steep decline or plateau in all regions--helped overall sales activity rise for the first time since March 2018."

The median existing-home price for all housing types in October was $255,400, up 3.8 percent from October 2017 ($246,000). October's price increase marks the 80^th straight month of year-over-year gains. Housing inventory at the end of October decreased from 1.88 million in September to 1.85 million existing homes available for sale, but that represents an increase from 1.80 million a year ago. Unsold inventory is at a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 4.4 last month and up from 3.9 months a year ago. Properties typically stayed on the market for 33 days in October, up from 32 days in September but down from 34 days a year ago. Forty-six percent of homes sold in October were on the market for less than a month.

"As more inventory enters the market and we head into the winter season, home price growth has begun to slow more meaningfully," said Yun. "This allows for much more manageable, less frenzied buying conditions."

Single-family home sales sit at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million in October, up from 4.58 million in September, and are 5.3 percent below the 4.88 million sales pace from a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $257,900 in October, up 4.3 percent from October 2017.

Existing condominium and co-op sales were recorded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 600,000 units in October, up 5.3 percent from last month but down 3.2 percent from a year ago. The median existing condo price was $236,200 in October, which is down 0.2 percent from a year ago.

October existing-home sales in the Northeast increased 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 690,000, 6.8 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $280,900, which is up 3.0 percent from October 2017.

In the Midwest, existing-home sales declined 0.8 percent from last month to an annual rate of 1.27 million in October, down 3.1 percent overall from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $197,000, up 2.4 percent from last year.

Existing-home sales in the South rose 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 2.15 million in October, down 2.3 percent from last year. The median price in the South was $221,600, up 3.8 percent from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the West grew 2.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.11 million in October, 11.2 percent below a year ago. The median price in the West was $382,900, up 1.9 percent from October 2017.

Homeside, a national mortgage lender,  has launched Rev, a platform designed to deliver an entrepreneurial branch model experience built specifically for top-ranking lending teams. According to the company, the objective of the technology is to increase sales and revenue, complete originations faster—and create more opportunity for the teams. Rev was designed to deliver a tool for high-producing lending teams to increase business.

Homeside says it offers more territory, selected because they are strategic, high-volume locations, with no market overcrowding. There is more independence, streamlined corporate involvement,  as well as provide more support for marketing, IT, human resources, payroll, licensing, compliance, legal and auditing. Also, branches have full control of profit and losses, and teams pay only for services used).

Homeside combines technology with a human touch to disrupt the mortgage industry. Since opening in late 2013, Homeside has grown to over 400 employees, with more than 20 locations and is recognized as a top-100 mortgage lender in the U.S.