WASHINGTON, June 3-- Construction spending rose more than expected in April, bolstered by record spending on home building, the Commerce Department said today. Spending to build homes, offices, schools, etc. went up 0.2% to an annual rate of $871.9 billion in April.

Economists were expecting an 0.2 percent decline in spending in April.

A record $425.5 billion at an annualized pace was spent on housing.. The value of construction on single-family homes was unchanged from the record high in March.

The value of construction on offices, factories and other nonresidential structures rose 1.6 percent in April, but is still down 15.9 percent from a year earlier.

All nongovernmental construction rose 0.6 percent in April, while public construction fell 1.1 percent.

Spending on private hospitals reached the highest annual level on record in the month before last, $16.7 billion.