At the same time, days on market fell to 26 from 31 as housing starts grew

Builder confidence was also down from a year ago.

Housing inventory fell in Boston during August, while housing starts and existing-home sales rose.

Housing inventory also saw an increase from year-ago levels last month.

Housing inventory in the Boston area, meanwhile, remained below year-ago levels in April.

This month’s Boston Agent Housing Scorecard would have been positive across the board had it not been for continued high unemployment and a shortage of housing inventory. See how the economic indicators looked, both locally and nationally, in this month’s report.