Summary Consolidated Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Oct. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011	Jan. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Jul. 31, 2010	Apr. 30, 2010	Jan. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2009
Summary income statement data for each quarter of fiscal 2011 and 2010
Revenues	$ 427,785	$ 394,305	$ 319,675	$ 334,116	$ 402,600	$ 454,202	$ 311,271	$ 326,698	$ 1,475,881	$ 1,494,771	$ 1,755,310
Gross profit	65,281	54,358	43,321	52,151	38,617	64,697	5,688	9,211
Income (loss) before income taxes	15,277	3,888	(31,484)	(17,047)	(9,467)	823	(51,789)	(56,754)	(29,366)	(117,787)	(496,465)
Net income (loss)	$ 15,043	$ 42,108	$ (20,773)	$ 3,417	$ 50,479	$ 27,302	$ (40,401)	$ (40,754)	$ 39,795	$ (3,374)	$ (755,825)
Income (loss) per share:
Basic	$ 0.09	$ 0.25	$ (0.12)	$ 0.02	$ 0.30	$ 0.16	$ (0.24)	$ (0.25)	$ 0.24	$ (0.02)	$ (4.68)
Diluted	$ 0.09	$ 0.25	$ (0.12)	$ 0.02	$ 0.30	$ 0.16	$ (0.24)	$ (0.25)	$ 0.24	$ (0.02)	$ (4.68)
Weighted average number of shares:
Basic	166,896,000	168,075,000	166,910,000	166,677,000	166,269,000	165,752,000	165,407,000	165,237,000	167,140,000	165,666,000	161,549,000
Diluted	167,525,000	169,338,000	166,910,000	168,121,000	167,777,000	167,658,000	165,407,000	165,237,000	168,381,000	165,666,000	161,549,000
Summary Consolidated Quarterly Financial Data (Textual) [Abstract]
Incremental shares attributed to outstanding options			0				0	0

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The amount of net income or loss for the period per each share of common stock outstanding during the reporting period.

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The amount of net income or loss for the period per each share of common stock and dilutive common stock equivalents outstanding during the reporting period.

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Revenue related to the sale of homes and home building activities including design, development, general contracting, and renovation services for residential buildings, including single-family houses, multifamily housing, townhouses, apartments, and modular housing.

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Aggregate awards of share options and nonvested shares to be issued to an employee under a share-based compensation arrangement are considered options for purposes of computing diluted earnings per share. Such share-based awards shall be considered to be outstanding as of the grant date for purposes of computing diluted earnings per share even though their exercise may be contingent upon vesting. Those share-based awards are included in the diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS) computation even if the employee may not receive (or be able to sell) the stock until some future date. Accordingly, all shares to be issued shall be included in computing diluted EPS if the effect is dilutive. The dilutive effect of share-based compensation arrangements shall be computed using the treasury stock method. If the equity share options or other equity instruments are outstanding for only part of a period, the shares issuable shall be weighted to reflect the portion of the period during which the equity instruments were outstanding.

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Number of [basic] shares, after adjustment for contingently issuable shares and other shares not deemed outstanding, determined by relating the portion of time within a reporting period that common shares have been outstanding to the total time in that period.

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