According to professional homebuilders, law enforcement officials and insurers, larceny at residential construction sites across the country has increased significantly in the last two years because of soaring prices of building materials like copper, lumber and cement, they said. The National Association of Home Builders, a trade group, estimates that the annual cost of theft to the industry has reached $5 billion. The problem has meant higher material and insurance costs for builders, who pass them along to buyers, sometimes to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. In the end, that can add as much as 10 percent to the cost of a home, builders and developers said.

A cottage industry of guard services, surveillance devices and private investigators has emerged to prevent theft as well as catch thieves in the act. Larceny is an issue at commercial sites, of course, but residential projects are particular targets because they are often easier to access. The situation is worse in regions where homebuilding remains relatively strong, like in parts of Texas, North Carolina, New York and Louisiana, and remains a problem in states where home construction has slackened, like Florida, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona.

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