About $5 billion worth of equipment, materials, and fixtures are stolen annually from partly or newly built homes, reports the National Association of Home Builders. Now the housing bust may worsen the picture. Builders have essentially mothballed many such homes as they go unsold, often without guarding them. (About a half-million new homes are on the market.) What to do? Towson (Md.) tool company DeWalt is pitching a GPS device that would let contractors trace wayward dishwashers or backhoes. And some builders are waiting to install appliances until just before a closing.
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