FRANKFURT, June 18 (Reuters) - Permits to build apartments in Germany rose 9.2% in April from a year earlier, statistics office data showed on Thursday, as the nation's property industry shows further signs of recovery.

o Germany's property sector entered a severe slump in 2022 at the start of the war in Ukraine.

o Permits, which have been increasing in recent months, are an important indicator of future construction activity.

o In April, approved permits for apartments totaled 20,200 units, up 1,700 from a year earlier.

o "But the crisis in the apartment market is far from resolved...We are coming from a historically low level," said Felix Pakleppa, head of the Central Association of the German Construction Industry.

(Reporting by Tom Sims, Editing by Linda Pasquini)