Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Income Statement [Abstract]
Sale of residential units	$ 120,366	$ 93,397
Sale of land and lots	7,899	5,940
Total revenues	128,265	99,337
Cost of residential units	94,509	73,761
Cost of land and lots	6,626	4,290
Total cost of sales	101,135	78,051
Total gross profit	27,130	21,286
Salary expense	6,938	5,435
Selling, general and administrative expense	5,825	4,278
Operating profit	14,367	11,573
Equity in income of unconsolidated entity	1,536	0
Other income, net	708	542
Income before taxes	16,611	12,115
Income tax provision	3,372	3,889
Net income	13,239	8,226
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	2,036	2,029
Net income attributable to Green Brick Partners, Inc.	$ 11,203	$ 6,197
Net income attributable to Green Brick Partners, Inc. per common share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.22	$ 0.13
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.22	$ 0.13
Weighted average common shares used in the calculation of net income attributable to Green Brick Partners, Inc. per common share:
Basic (in shares)	50,577	48,958
Diluted (shares)	50,718	49,017