Information on Segments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2017	Jul. 31, 2017	Apr. 30, 2017	Jan. 31, 2017	Oct. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2016	Apr. 30, 2016	Jan. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2017	Oct. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015
Revenues
Revenues	$ 2,027,907	$ 1,502,909	$ 1,363,512	$ 920,730	$ 1,855,451	$ 1,269,934	$ 1,115,557	$ 928,566	$ 5,815,058	$ 5,169,508	$ 4,171,248
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes	301,747	$ 203,574	$ 199,209	$ 109,781	168,160	$ 163,653	$ 140,397	$ 116,817	814,311	589,027	535,562
Total assets
Total assets	9,445,225				9,736,789				9,445,225	9,736,789
North [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									775,540	814,519	702,175
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									50,393	77,017	59,172
Total assets
Total assets	1,074,969				1,020,250				1,074,969	1,020,250
Mid-Atlantic [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									1,030,269	895,736	845,328
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									105,740	(29,361)	69,093
Total assets
Total assets	1,121,013				1,166,023				1,121,013	1,166,023
South [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									923,953	849,548	892,303
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									112,809	128,613	152,991
Total assets
Total assets	1,184,956				1,203,554				1,184,956	1,203,554
West [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									1,151,697	903,691	665,282
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									153,188	127,265	106,365
Total assets
Total assets	1,275,298				1,130,625				1,275,298	1,130,625
California [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									1,550,494	1,448,546	750,036
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									345,138	335,173	139,133
Total assets
Total assets	2,630,041				2,479,885				2,630,041	2,479,885
Traditional Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									5,431,953	4,912,040	3,855,124
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									767,268	638,707	526,754
Total assets
Total assets	7,286,277				7,000,337				7,286,277	7,000,337
City Living [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									383,105	257,468	316,124
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									193,852	91,109	124,290
Total assets
Total assets	647,174				946,738				647,174	946,738
Corporate and other [Member]
Revenues
Revenues
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									(146,809)	(140,789)	$ (115,482)
Total assets
Total assets	$ 1,511,774				$ 1,789,714				$ 1,511,774	$ 1,789,714