Note 3 - Interest (Details) - Interest Costs Incurred, Expensed and Capitalized (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2014		Jul. 31, 2013		Jul. 31, 2014		Jul. 31, 2013
Interest Costs Incurred, Expensed and Capitalized [Abstract]
Interest capitalized at beginning of period	$ 107,992		$ 112,488		$ 105,093		$ 116,056
Plus interest incurred (1)	36,472	[1]	33,195	[1]	108,073	[1]	97,813	[1]
Less cost of sales interest expensed	15,827		13,757		37,724		35,311
Less other interest expensed (2)(3)	19,880	[2],[3]	21,949	[2],[3]	66,685	[2],[3]	68,581	[2],[3]
Interest capitalized at end of period(4)	$ 108,757	[4]	$ 109,977	[4]	$ 108,757	[4]	$ 109,977	[4]

[1] Data does not include interest incurred by our mortgage and finance subsidiaries.

[2] Other interest expensed consists of interest that does not qualify for interest capitalization because our assets that qualify for interest capitalization (inventory under development) do not exceed our debt. Interest on completed homes and land in planning, which does not qualify for capitalization, is expensed.

[3] Cash paid for interest, net of capitalized interest, is the sum of other interest expensed, as defined above, and interest paid by our mortgage and finance subsidiaries adjusted for the change in accrued interest, which is calculated as follows:

[4] Capitalized interest amounts are shown gross before allocating any portion of impairments to capitalized interest.