The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes continued to set record declines in March 2009, according to new data released by S&P.

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index fell 19.1% in Q1 2009 over year-ago levels, the largest drop in the index's 21-years of back-tested data. 

The more widely used 10-City and 20-City Composites dropped 18.6% and 18.7% respectively, according to S&P's statement about the latest figures for the indexes.

The average home price in the nation is now down 32.2% from its peak in Q2 2006, and home prices have retreated to levels last seen in Q4 2002.

Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco posted the worst year-over-year returns, declining 36%, 21.2% and 30.1%, respectively. Denver did the best, falling just 5.5% year-over-year.

Home prices in Phoenix are now down 53% from peak levels in June 2006.

Three cities managed monthly gains in March, with prices rising in Charlotte (0.3%), Denver (0.1%) and Dallas (0.0%). Elsewhere, however, the pace of the decline was brutal, with home prices in Minneapolis dropping 6.1% in March alone; in Detroit, prices retreated 4.9%.