Home prices in 20 of the largest US cities recorded a record 15.3 per cent decline in April, it emerged on Tuesday, offering few hopes that the mortgage crisis may be on the road to recovery, meanwhile consumer confidence tumbled to a 16-year low.

Although slightly better than the 16 per cent drop expected by economists, yesterday’s data from the closely watched Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Index marked the steepest year-on-year fall since the measure was devised eight years ago. In March, the same index, which is calculated on the basis of a three-month rolling average, had recorded a fall of 14 per cent.