Home construction rose more than expected in May as building of new home and apartments jumped 17.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000 units from April’s record low of 454,000 units, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Building permits, an indicator of future construction activity, increased 4 percent to an annual rate of 518,000 units from 498,000 in April.

The figures were higher than expected. A consensus estimate from Briefing.com predicted that starts would increase 485,000 and permits to 508,000.

The gains can be attributed to the surge in the highly volatile category of multifamily buildings, which increased 61.7 percent in May after 49.4 percent drop in April. S

Single-family home construction improved but at a slower pace at 7.5 percent jump but the biggest jump since January 2006 at 401,000 from 373,000.

Even with the improvements, the housing is way below last year’s figures when new home starts showed an annual rate of 975,000 while the rate was about 1.4 million units two years ago.

Regionally all experienced improvements, the West up 28.6 percent, the Midwest rose 11.1 percent, the South with 6.8 percent, while the Northeast with 2%.

Permits increased in the Northeast by 5.7 percent, in the Midwest with 8.9 percent, in the South by 2.3 percent and in the West by 3.8 percent.