The new home sales rebound in the U.S.

  Sales of new homes rose more than expected in April and the number of homes currently on the market has reached a high of 3 ½ years, suggesting that the recovery of the residential real estate market is still fragile.

  The Commerce Department said Friday that new home sales were up 6.4% in seasonally adjusted volume, the annual number of 433,000 units after two months of consecutive decline.

The March figure was revised up to 407,000 units against 384,000 announced in the first estimate.

Economists polled by Reuters on average expected 425,000.

Compared with April 2014 sales were down 4.2%.

The number of new homes on the market rose 0.5% to 192,000 units, the highest level since November 2010.