U.S. consumer confidence slumped again in March, the third straight month of sharp declines, according to a report from the U.S. Conference Board today.

The Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence for March fell to 64.5, the lowest level since the Iraq War began in 2003.

Today’s figure was well below economists’ expectations for a reading of 73, and down from a revised 76.4 in February.

The index was 87.3 in January and has fallen from its most recent peak of 90.6 in December.

“Consumers’ confidence in the state of the economy continues to fade and the index remains at a five-year low,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center, in a release.

Data also showed the expectations index fell to 47.9 — a 35-year low — from a revised 58 in February. The survey is based on a sample of 5,000 U.S. households; the cutoff date for these preliminary results was March 18.

The present situation index, a gauge of consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions, fell to 89.2 from a revised 104 in February. It was originally reported at 100.6 in February.

Meanwhile, a closely watched gauge of U.S. home prices showed record declines continued into the new year as the deep housing slump intensified.

Single-family home prices in 10 major metropolitan areas in January were down 11.4% from a year earlier and down 2.3% from December, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price indexes, released today by credit-rating firm Standard & Poor’s.


A separate data set, from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, found U.S. home prices fell 3% in January from the same month last year. The Ofheo index found home prices slipped 1.1 percent in January from the previous month. The declines were sharpest in New England. Since its peak last April, the monthly index is down 4.1%.