Fair Value Disclosures (Level 4 inventory fv) (Details 3) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended						6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2021 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2021 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2021 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2020 USD ($)
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Inventory Write-down	$ 1,581				$ 14,214		$ 2,847	$ 15,245
Equity Method Investment, Nonconsolidated Investee or Group of Investees
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 86,422				$ 79,112		178,952	212,282
Operating communities [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Inventory Write-down							1,100		$ 675
Fair Value, Nonrecurring [Member] | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Operating communities [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Number of Operating Communities Tested (in ones)	27	53	53	66	80	65
Number of Communities Impaired (in ones)	0	1	1	0	1	0
Fair Value Of Communities Net Of Impairment Charges	$ 0	$ 419	$ 1,113	$ 0	$ 2,754	$ 0	0	2,754	$ 1,113
Inventory Write-down	0	$ 1,100	$ 375	$ 0	300	$ 0
City Living [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Inventory Write-down	0				0		1,100	0
North [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Inventory Write-down	31				278		65	372
South [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Inventory Write-down	419				1,243		444	1,990
Mid-Atlantic [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Inventory Write-down	59				10,666		90	10,667
Pacific [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Inventory Write-down	$ 1,061				$ 1,946		$ 1,128	$ 1,957