Fair Value Disclosures (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2016

Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]

Summary of assets and (liabilities), measured at fair value on a recurring basis

A summary of assets and (liabilities) at October 31, 2016 and 2015, related to our financial instruments, measured at fair value on a recurring basis, is set forth below (amounts in thousands):

		Fair value
Financial Instrument	Fair value hierarchy	October 31, 2016			October 31, 2015
Marketable Securities	Level 2				$	10,001
Residential Mortgage Loans Held for Sale	Level 2	$	248,601		$	123,175
Forward Loan Commitments – Residential Mortgage Loans Held for Sale	Level 2	$	1,390		$	186
Interest Rate Lock Commitments (“IRLCs”)	Level 2	$	(921	)	$	(297	)
Forward Loan Commitments – IRLCs	Level 2	$	921		$	297

Aggregate unpaid principal and fair value of mortgage loans held for sale

The table below provides, for the periods indicated, the aggregate unpaid principal and fair value of mortgage loans held for sale as of the date indicated (amounts in thousands):

At October 31,	Aggregate unpaid principal balance		Fair value		Excess
2016	$	246,794	$	248,601	$	1,807
2015	$	121,904	$	123,175	$	1,271

Fair value of inventory adjusted for impairment

		Impaired operating communities
Three months ended:	Number of communities tested	Number of communities	Fair value of communities, net of impairment charges		Impairment charges recognized
Fiscal 2016:
January 31	43	2	$	1,713	$	600
April 30	41	2	$	10,103	6,100
July 31	51	2	$	11,714	1,250
October 31	59	2	$	1,126	415
					$	8,365
Fiscal 2015:
January 31	58	4	$	24,968	$	900
April 30	52	1	$	16,235	11,100
July 31	40	3	$	13,527	6,000
October 31	44	3	$	8,726	4,300
					$	22,300
Fiscal 2014:
January 31	67	1	$	7,131	$	1,300
April 30	65	2	$	6,211	1,600
July 31	63	1	$	14,122	4,800
October 31	55	7	$	38,473	9,855
					$	17,555

Book value and estimated fair value of the Company's debt

The table below provides, as of the dates indicated, the book value and estimated fair value of our debt at October 31, 2016 and 2015 (amounts in thousands):

		2016				2015
	Fair value hierarchy	Book value		Estimated fair value		Book value		Estimated fair value
Loans payable (a)	Level 2	$	872,809	$	870,384	$	1,001,702	$	1,001,366
Senior notes (b)	Level 1	2,707,376		2,843,177		2,707,376		2,877,039
Mortgage company loan facility (c)	Level 2	210,000		210,000		100,000		100,000
		$	3,790,185	$	3,923,561	$	3,809,078	$	3,978,405

(a) The estimated fair value of loans payable was based upon contractual cash flows discounted at interest rates that we believed were available to us for loans with similar terms and remaining maturities as of the applicable valuation date.

(b) The estimated fair value of our senior notes is based upon their market prices as of the applicable valuation date.

(c) We believe that the carrying value of our mortgage company loan borrowings approximates their fair value.

Operating communities [Member]

Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]

Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on a Nonrecurring Basis, Valuation Techniques [Table Text Block]

The table below summarizes, for the periods indicated, the ranges of certain quantitative unobservable inputs utilized in determining the fair value of impaired communities:

	Selling price per unit ($ in thousands)	Sales pace per year (in units)	Discount rate
Three months ended October 31, 2016	—	—	—
Three months ended July 31, 2016	—	—	—
Three months ended April 30, 2016	369 - 394	18 - 23	16.3%
Three months ended January 31, 2016	—	—	—
Three months ended October 31, 2015	301 - 764	3 - 24	16.3% - 22.0%
Three months ended July 31, 2015	788 - 1,298	4 - 8	15.5% - 16.2%
Three months ended April 30, 2015	527 - 600	13 - 25	17.0%
Three months ended January 31, 2015	289 - 680	1 - 7	13.5% - 16.0%