Information on Segments (Details 1) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Oct. 31, 2018	Oct. 31, 2017
Inventory
Inventory	$ 7,598,219	$ 7,281,453
Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	139,985	87,158
Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	916,616	1,142,870
Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	6,541,618	6,051,425
North [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	920,489	1,024,672
North [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	17,414	23,944
North [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	99,383	130,964
North [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	803,692	869,764
Mid-Atlantic [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,078,761	1,071,298
Mid-Atlantic [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	48,553	32,674
Mid-Atlantic [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	123,218	87,642
Mid-Atlantic [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	906,990	950,982
South [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,064,935	1,012,170
South [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	12,305	8,892
South [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	95,309	51,391
South [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	957,321	951,887
West [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,552,565	1,255,275
West [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	22,905	12,087
West [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	109,671	89,184
West [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,419,989	1,154,004
California [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	2,570,032	2,415,130
California [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	32,441	5,550
California [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	391,221	640,306
California [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	2,146,370	1,769,274
Traditional Homebuilding [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	7,186,782	6,778,545
Traditional Homebuilding [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	133,618	83,147
Traditional Homebuilding [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	818,802	999,487
Traditional Homebuilding [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	6,234,362	5,695,911
City Living [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	411,437	502,908
City Living [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	6,367	4,011
City Living [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	97,814	143,383
City Living [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	$ 307,256	$ 355,514