Information on Segments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2018	Jul. 31, 2018	Apr. 30, 2018	Jan. 31, 2018	Oct. 31, 2017	Jul. 31, 2017	Apr. 30, 2017	Jan. 31, 2017	Oct. 31, 2018	Oct. 31, 2017	Oct. 31, 2016
Revenues
Revenues	$ 2,455,238	$ 1,913,353	$ 1,599,199	$ 1,175,468	$ 2,027,907	$ 1,502,909	$ 1,363,512	$ 920,730	$ 7,143,258	$ 5,815,058	$ 5,169,508
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes	396,473	$ 253,097	$ 152,748	$ 131,598	301,747	$ 203,574	$ 199,209	$ 109,781	933,916	814,311	589,027
Total assets
Total assets	10,244,590				9,445,225				10,244,590	9,445,225
North [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									975,648	775,540	814,519
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									56,530	50,393	77,017
Total assets
Total assets	970,854				1,074,969				970,854	1,074,969
Mid-Atlantic [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									1,141,130	1,030,269	895,736
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									90,573	105,740	(29,361)
Total assets
Total assets	1,130,417				1,121,013				1,130,417	1,121,013
South [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									1,045,395	923,953	849,548
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									110,304	112,809	128,613
Total assets
Total assets	1,237,744				1,184,956				1,237,744	1,184,956
West [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									1,451,353	1,151,697	903,691
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									213,269	153,188	127,265
Total assets
Total assets	1,580,199				1,275,298				1,580,199	1,275,298
California [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									2,208,733	1,550,494	1,448,546
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									494,247	345,138	335,173
Total assets
Total assets	2,733,956				2,630,041				2,733,956	2,630,041
Traditional Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									6,822,259	5,431,953	4,912,040
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									964,923	767,268	638,707
Total assets
Total assets	7,653,170				7,286,277				7,653,170	7,286,277
City Living [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									320,999	383,105	257,468
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									78,149	193,852	91,109
Total assets
Total assets	516,238				647,174				516,238	647,174
Corporate and Other [Member]
Revenues
Revenues
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									(109,156)	(146,809)	$ (140,789)
Total assets
Total assets	$ 2,075,182				$ 1,511,774				$ 2,075,182	$ 1,511,774