Interest Incurred, Capitalized and Expensed (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2011		Jun. 30, 2012		Jun. 30, 2011
Capitalized Interest [Line Items]
Interest incurred	$ 16,660		$ 17,582		$ 33,320		$ 37,244
Interest expensed	5,909	[1]	4,375	[1]	12,197	[1]	8,326	[1]
Interest capitalized as a cost of inventory	10,550		12,862		20,745		28,133
Interest previously capitalized as a cost of inventory, included in cost of sales	(10,074)		(8,342)		(17,858)		(14,150)
Interest previously capitalized as a cost of inventory, transferred from investments in joint ventures	0		641		0		641
Interest capitalized in ending inventory	114,323	[2]	120,575	[2]	114,323	[2]	120,575	[2]
Joint Ventures
Capitalized Interest [Line Items]
Interest capitalized as a cost of investments in joint ventures	201		345		378		785
Interest previously capitalized as a cost of investments in joint ventures, included in equity in income (loss) from joint ventures	(201)		(212)		(378)		(455)
Interest previously capitalized as a cost of investments in joint ventures, transferred to inventory	0		(641)		0		(641)
Interest capitalized in ending investments in joint ventures	$ 0		$ 635		$ 0		$ 635

[1] For the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011, assets qualifying for interest capitalization was less than debt; therefore, non-qualifying interest was expensed.

[2] Inventory impairment charges were recorded against total inventory of the respective community. Capitalized interest reflects the gross amount of capitalized interest as impairment charges recognized were generally not allocated to specific components of inventory.