Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in April by the most on record, signaling the housing recession is far from over.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 15.3 percent from a year earlier 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.

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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.

Month-Over-Month

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.

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.

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