June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in April by the most on record, signaling the housing recession is far from over, a private survey showed today.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 15.3 percent from a year earlier, less than forecast, after a 14.3 percent decline in March. The group began keeping year-over-year records in 2001. A separate report showed consumer confidence slumped this month to the lowest level in 16 years.

Mortgage defaults and foreclosures are adding to the glut of properties on the market, while stricter loan rules are making it more difficult for prospective buyers to get financing. The prolonged real-estate slump, along with higher fuel prices and a shrinking job market, is taking a toll on consumers and the economy.

``There's such an excess of inventories that we certainly expect to see more price declines,'' said James O'Sullivan, a senior economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. ``The economy is still weakening and housing still looks pretty weak.''

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 50.4, the lowest level since February 1992, from a revised 58.1 in May. Consumers were the most pessimistic about the future in the 41-year history of the index. The decline raises the risk that Americans will retrench after spending their tax rebates.

Month-Over-Month

The report from S&P/Case-Shiller showed home prices decreased 1.4 percent in April from a month earlier after a 2.2 percent decline in March, the report showed. The figures aren't adjusted for seasonal effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes instead of month to month.

The index was forecast to fall 16 percent from a year earlier, after a previously reported 14.4 percent drop in the 12 months ended in March, according to the median forecast of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from declines of 15.4 percent to 17 percent.

Nationally, home prices fell 4.6 percent in April from a year earlier, led by a 15 percent drop in states on the West Coast, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise also reported today. The monthly house price index is down 4.6 percent from its peak in April 2007, Washington-based Ofheo said.

The Ofheo price index covers the entire nation, while the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city gauge covers some areas that have shown the greatest fluctuation in values. The Ofheo measure also doesn't include so-called jumbo mortgages, which are loans that exceed federal limits. The maximum was raised on a temporary basis in February to as much as $729,750 in some areas.

Declines Widespread

All of the 20 cities in the S&P/Case-Shiller index showed a year-over-year decrease in prices for April, led by a 27 percent drop in both Las Vegas and Miami. Charlotte, North Carolina, showed a decline for the first time.

One bright spot in the report was that more cities showed a gain in prices in April compared with the previous month. Houses in eight areas rose in value, compared with just two in March. Month-over-month gains were led by Cleveland and Dallas.

There may be ``some surprises in the next few months that would indicate we are at or near a bottom in probably one-third to one-half of the country,'' Karl Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

Robert Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets LLC and a professor at Yale University, and Case created the home-price index based on research from the 1980s.

Reports this week may reinforce the dim outlook for housing. Combined sales of new and existing homes in May probably were the third-lowest on record, according to the Bloomberg survey median.

Sales May Fall

New-home sales probably fell, approaching March's 17-year low, a report from the Commerce Department tomorrow may show. The National Association of Realtors may report the following day that purchases of existing houses, which account for 85 percent of the market, rose last month from a record low.

Rising borrowing costs aren't helping. Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage buyer, last week cut its forecast for new and existing home sales this year as 30-year fixed mortgage rates jumped to an eight-month high.

Banks repossessed twice as many homes in May as they did a year ago and foreclosure filings rose 48 percent, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a real estate database in Irvine, California.

Homebuilders are reeling. Standard Pacific Corp., an Irvine, California-based homebuilder, last week said new home orders for April and May fell 12 percent from a year earlier, citing ``difficult housing conditions'' in most of its markets.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington at schandra1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 24, 2008 15:01 EDT