U.S. home prices tumble in April at record rate; Seattle prices fall 4.9%

NEW YORK — U.S. home prices tumbled in April at the fastest rate since a widely followed index was begun in 2000, with all 20 metropolitan areas surveyed — including Seattle — posting annual declines for the first time.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 cities fell by 15.3 percent in April versus a year ago, according to today's report. The Seattle metropolitan area's annual decline was 4.9 percent.

The narrower 10-city index declined 16.3 percent in April, its biggest decline in its more than two-decade history.

Prices nationwide are at levels not seen since August 2004.

Meanwhile the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, using a different survey method, reported today that U.S. home prices fell 4.6 percent in April from the same month last year, when the index peaked. That marked the biggest decline ever in the agency's monthly index which dates back to January 1991.

The government index is calculated using mortgage loans of $417,000 or less, and covers major geographic areas such as the West Coast. State and city numbers weren't available.

While the government report has shown nationwide price declines, the Case-Shiller index has shown far greater drops because it focuses on larger cities where prices rose further during the boom years, and includes riskier loans.

No surveyed city stayed above water, according to the Case-Shiller index. The last holdout, Charlotte, N.C., finally succumbed to the national housing downturn, with prices there slipping 0.1 percent from a year ago.

Las Vegas and Miami both continue to post the largest declines, falling 26.8 percent and 26.7 percent, respectively.

The annual declines in Denver, Chicago and Cleveland were less severe than in the previous month, but Maureen Maitland, a S&P vice president, is reluctant to characterize that as an indication of stabilization.

"We wouldn't call a trend on one-month data," she said.

The report also showed prices in eight metro areas, including Seattle, increased in April from March, but the gains could be seasonal blips as the homebuying spring season starts up rather than a sign of a turnaround, Maitland said.

Seattle's increase was minimal — just a 0.7 percent gain in April compared with March.

The housing slump, along with higher food and fuel prices and disruptions in the credit markets, has taken its toll on consumer sentiment.

An industry group today said U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly fell sharply in June to the fifth-lowest level ever. The Conference Board's reading of consumers' expectations also hit an all-time low.

Seattle-area data compiled by Seattle Times reporter Elizabeth Rhodes.