(Adds details from report)
OTTAWA, June 22 (Reuters) - Canadian retail sales rose more than expected in April on higher gasoline prices and as consumers spent on home appliances and garden supplies, data from Statistics Canada showed on Thursday.
The value of retail sales rose 0.8 percent, exceeding forecasts for 0.2 percent. March was revised down slightly to a 0.5 percent increase from an initially reported gain of 0.7 percent.
Stripping out the effects of price changes, April's sales volumes were less robust, rising just 0.3 percent.
The building material, garden equipment and supplies sector rose 3.5 percent, its biggest increase in nearly two years. Increased sales of home appliances and hardware have helped the sector rise for eight months in a row.
Canada's housing market has been robust, with sales and starts rising in the first months of the year, though activity has begun to cool in the major city of Toronto since provincial measures put in place in late April.
Sales rose 2.1 percent at general merchandise stores, which include big-box and department stores. Sales at gasoline stations rose 1.7 percent, the seventh increase in nine months as Canadians paid higher prices at the pump.
Vehicle and parts dealer sales fell 1.0 percent following a solid increase in March as consumers bought fewer new cars. Excluding the auto sector, retail sales rose 1.5 percent.
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