Real Estate Inventories and Capitalized Interest (Details) - USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Real Estate [Abstract]
Deposits and pre-acquisition costs	$ 6,788,070	$ 9,348,650
Land held and land under development	55,266,729	48,989,673
Homes completed or under construction	150,306,573	87,072,326
Model homes	34,031,916	18,153,532
Real estate inventories	246,393,288	163,564,181
Deposits and pre-acquisition costs, refundable	$ 250,000	$ 0

Inventory, Real Estate, Deposits and Pre-Acquisition Costs

No definition available.

Name:	nwhm_InventoryRealEstateDepositsandPreAcquisitionCosts
Namespace Prefix:	nwhm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Inventory, Real Estate, Deposits and Pre-Acquisition Costs, Refundable

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nwhm_InventoryRealEstateDepositsandPreAcquisitionCostsRefundable
Namespace Prefix:	nwhm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Inventory, Real Estate, Homes Finished or Construction in Progress

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nwhm_InventoryRealEstateHomesCompletedorConstructioninProgress
Namespace Prefix:	nwhm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Inventory, Real Estate, Model Homes

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nwhm_InventoryRealEstateModelHomes
Namespace Prefix:	nwhm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Total of (1) improvements, (2) held-for-sale, (3) land and land under development, (4) construction-in-process, (5) mortgage loans held-in-inventory, and (6) other real estate investments which are considered inventory due to being held for sale or disposition.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InventoryRealEstate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date, net of valuation allowances and impairment losses, of costs of land expected to be developed in the near term plus capitalized costs of development, for purposes of selling completed units to home buyers or commercial or industrial entities..

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 210

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.6(a))

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 02

-Paragraph 6

-Subparagraph a

-Article 5

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InventoryRealEstateLandAndLandDevelopmentCosts
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstateAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration