Spring home sales saw a robust increase amid improved inventory, according to new data from Zillow. Despite the improvement, sales remain below pre-pandemic levels. Austin leads all major metros in both annual sales growth, at 20 percent, and inventory gains above pre-pandemic norms, at 52 percent. Among the top 10 markets for year-over-year sales growth, six have more inventory than before the pandemic.The report explains that higher inventory levels are putting downward pressure on prices. Compared with a year ago, the typical monthly mortgage payment has fallen 9.8 percent in Austin, 7.4 percent in Dallas, 7 percent in Denver, 6.2 percent in Raleigh and 6 percent in San Antonio. Those savings are significant compared with much of the rest of the country.Nationwide, the pace of home sales at the listing level is close to pre-pandemic norms. The median age of inventory is one day lower, and listings that go pending typically do so one day faster than in 2018-19. The major differences are in overall sales totals, inventory and new listings, which were down 18 percent, 19 percent and 16 percent, respectively, in April.