Information on Segments (Details 1) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Oct. 31, 2019	Oct. 31, 2018
Inventory
Inventory	$ 7,873,048	$ 7,598,219
Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	182,929	139,985
Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	868,202	916,616
Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	6,821,917	6,541,618
North [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	852,719	920,489
North [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	24,575	17,414
North [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	64,129	99,383
North [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	764,015	803,692
Mid-Atlantic [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,114,197	1,078,761
Mid-Atlantic [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	53,375	48,553
Mid-Atlantic [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	96,634	123,218
Mid-Atlantic [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	964,188	906,990
South [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,206,703	1,064,935
South [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	15,622	12,305
South [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	134,697	95,309
South [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,056,384	957,321
West [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,983,892	1,552,565
West [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	25,340	22,905
West [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	34,165	109,671
West [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,924,387	1,419,989
California [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	2,260,138	2,570,032
California [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	64,017	32,441
California [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	353,186	391,221
California [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	1,842,935	2,146,370
Traditional Homebuilding [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	7,417,649	7,186,782
Traditional Homebuilding [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	182,929	133,618
Traditional Homebuilding [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	682,811	818,802
Traditional Homebuilding [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	6,551,909	6,234,362
City Living [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	455,399	411,437
City Living [Member] | Land controlled for future communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory		6,367
City Living [Member] | Land Owned for Future Communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	185,391	97,814
City Living [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Inventory
Inventory	$ 270,008	$ 307,256