WASHINGTON--

Construction of new homes posted the biggest increase in more than two years in April, a rare spot of good news amid the worst downturn in housing in more than two decades.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that housing construction rose by 8.2% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.03 million units. Building of single-family homes continued to weaken, however. The growth came from a big jump in apartment construction.

Still, the overall gain represented recovery after a steep slump in March building pushed activity to the slowest pace in 17 years.

The surprising rebound was expected to be temporary given the headwinds builders are confronting, from slumping sales to soaring home foreclosures.

The strength in April came entirely from a huge rebound in apartment construction, which can be extremely volatile from month to month. Apartment building jumped by 40.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 326,000 units.

The larger single-family sector dropped by 1.7%to an annual rate of 692,000 units.

Economists believe that housing construction will remain under pressure until builders have more success in reducing a huge backlog of unsold homes.

That effort is being made more difficult by a record wave of foreclosures as millions of borrowers lose their homes because they cannot keep up with escalating payments, particularly on subprime mortgages, loans extended to people with weak credit histories.

By region of the country, construction posted the largest gain in the Midwest, an increase of 24.4% when compared to March. Construction rose 18.5% in the West and was up 3.6% in the South. However, construction fell by 12.7% in the Northeast.

   Even with the improvement, housing construction nationwide was 30.6%below the level of activity a year ago.

The National Association of Home Builders reported Thursday that its monthly survey of builder sentiment edged down in May to a reading of 19, just above the all-time low of 18 set in December. The survey had held steady at the low level of 20 from February through April.

David Seiders, the group's chief economist, said that conditions in the industry have continued to deteriorate.