The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price indexes, a closely watched gauge of U.S. home prices, saw prices fall further in February as slumping home sales and an increasing inventory of vacant homes further increased downward pressures on prices.

According to the indices, released today by ratings firm Standard & Poor’s, home prices in 10 major U.S. metropolitan areas fell a record 13.6% in February from a year earlier and 2.8% from January.

In 20 major metropolitan areas, home prices fell a record 12.7% from a year earlier and 2.6% from January.

Not one city managed to avoid a February-over-January drop in prices, though Charlotte, N.C. eked out annual growth of 1.5% in February. No other region saw year-to-year growth.

Las Vegas and Miami again were the weakest markets, as in January, posting February declines from a year earlier of 22.8% and 21.7%, respectively.

Meanwhile, U.S. consumer confidence continued to weaken in April, the fourth straight month of declines, according to a report released today.

The U.S. Conference Board, a private research group, said that its index of consumer confidence for April fell once again, dragged down by yet another sharp decline in the present situation index. The confidence index now stands at 62.3, down from an upwardly revised 65.9 in March and compared with economists’ expectations for a reading of 61.5, The March reading was originally reported at 64.5.

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

The present situation index, a gauge of consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions, plummeted to 80.7 this month from an upwardly revised 90.6 in March. It was originally reported at 89.2 in March.