Fair Value Disclosures (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2017

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, 2017 and 2016, 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, 2017			October 31, 2016
Residential Mortgage Loans Held for Sale	Level 2	$	132,922		$	248,601
Forward Loan Commitments – Residential Mortgage Loans Held for Sale	Level 2	$	861		$	1,390
Interest Rate Lock Commitments (“IRLCs”)	Level 2	$	(1,293	)	$	(921	)
Forward Loan Commitments – IRLCs	Level 2	$	1,293		$	921

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
2017	$	131,861	$	132,922	$	1,061
2016	$	246,794	$	248,601	$	1,807

Fair value of inventory adjusted for impairment

The table below provides, for the periods indicated, the number of operating communities that we reviewed for potential impairment, the number of operating communities in which we recognized impairment charges, the amount of impairment charges recognized, and, as of the end of the period indicated, the fair value of those communities, net of impairment charges

($ amounts in thousands):

		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 2017:
January 31	57	2	$	8,372	$	4,000
April 30	46	6	$	25,092	2,935
July 31	53	4	$	5,965	1,360
October 31	51	1	$	6,982	1,500
					$	9,795
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

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, 2017 and 2016 (amounts in thousands):

		2017				2016
	Fair value hierarchy	Book value		Estimated fair value		Book value		Estimated fair value
Loans payable (a)	Level 2	$	639,116	$	639,088	$	872,809	$	870,384
Senior notes (b)	Level 1	2,469,876		2,626,131		2,707,376		2,843,177
Mortgage company loan facility (c)	Level 2	120,145		120,145		210,000		210,000
		$	3,229,137	$	3,385,364	$	3,790,185	$	3,923,561

(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, 2017	467 - 540	12 - 30	16.4%
July 31, 2017	465 - 754	3 - 10	16.5% - 19.5%
April 30, 2017	827 - 856	6 - 11	16.3%
January 31, 2017	692 - 880	4 - 12	16.3%
October 31, 2016	—	—	—
July 31, 2016	—	—	—
April 30, 2016	369 - 394	18 - 23	16.3%
January 31, 2016	—	—	—