Segment Information (Segment Financial Information) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2014		May 31, 2013		May 31, 2014		May 31, 2013		Nov. 30, 2013
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	$ 824,273,000				$ 824,273,000				$ 586,439,000
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	1,564,025,000				1,564,025,000				1,066,916,000
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	617,820,000				617,820,000				645,222,000
Inventory, Operative Builders	3,006,118,000				3,006,118,000				2,298,577,000
Revenues:
Total revenues	565,007,000		524,406,000		1,015,694,000		929,625,000
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	26,924,000		(4,173,000)		37,687,000		(16,531,000)
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures					1,900,000		85,000
Inventory impairments:
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets Held-for-use	0		0		0		0		400,000
Land option contract abandonments:
Land Option Contract Abandonment Charges	357,000		284,000		790,000		284,000
Assets:
Total assets	3,828,026,000				3,828,026,000				3,193,635,000
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	67,594,000				67,594,000				130,192,000
Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	562,396,000		521,788,000		1,010,663,000		924,604,000
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	25,171,000		(6,151,000)		34,372,000		(21,168,000)
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures	(678,000)		(567,000)		1,912,000		(1,002,000)
Assets:
Total assets	3,818,758,000				3,818,758,000				3,183,595,000
Financial services [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	2,611,000		2,618,000		5,031,000		5,021,000
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	1,753,000		1,978,000		3,315,000		4,637,000
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures	(6,000)	[1]	(4,000)	[1]	(12,000)	[1]	1,087,000	[1]
Assets:
Total assets	9,268,000				9,268,000				10,040,000
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	5,477,000				5,477,000				5,490,000
West Coast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	465,052,000				465,052,000				275,516,000
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	729,946,000				729,946,000				560,032,000
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	307,179,000				307,179,000				308,636,000
Land option contract abandonments:
Land Option Contract Abandonment Charges	103,000		284,000		103,000		284,000
West Coast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	260,320,000		273,490,000		442,041,000		479,594,000
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	35,964,000		28,020,000		54,329,000		37,862,000
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures	(20,000)		(40,000)		(58,000)		(73,000)
Assets:
Total assets	1,615,126,000				1,615,126,000				1,230,761,000
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	48,756,000				48,756,000				40,246,000
Southwest [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	46,175,000				46,175,000				39,661,000
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	298,501,000				298,501,000				106,654,000
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	137,605,000				137,605,000				157,924,000
Land option contract abandonments:
Land Option Contract Abandonment Charges	0		0		0		0
Southwest [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	48,381,000		47,247,000		94,496,000		79,078,000
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	3,771,000		1,590,000		5,056,000		841,000
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures	(658,000)		(639,000)		(1,321,000)		(1,164,000)
Assets:
Total assets	521,977,000				521,977,000				402,443,000
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	16,337,000				16,337,000				80,877,000
Central [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	189,191,000				189,191,000				157,572,000
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	323,277,000				323,277,000				238,311,000
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	24,274,000				24,274,000				15,193,000
Land option contract abandonments:
Land Option Contract Abandonment Charges	0		0		433,000		0
Central [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	172,384,000		120,305,000		297,546,000		226,797,000
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	10,516,000		2,348,000		13,292,000		2,484,000
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures	0		0		0		0
Assets:
Total assets	610,280,000				610,280,000				465,547,000
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	0				0				0
Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	123,855,000				123,855,000				113,690,000
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	212,301,000				212,301,000				161,919,000
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	148,762,000				148,762,000				163,469,000
Land option contract abandonments:
Land Option Contract Abandonment Charges	254,000		0		254,000		0
Southeast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	81,311,000		80,746,000		176,580,000		139,135,000
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	(5,757,000)		(16,768,000)		(1,916,000)		(25,092,000)
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures	0		112,000		3,291,000		235,000
Assets:
Total assets	506,494,000				506,494,000				456,965,000
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	2,501,000				2,501,000				9,069,000
Corporate and Other [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	(19,323,000)		(21,341,000)		(36,389,000)		(37,263,000)
Assets:
Total assets	$ 564,881,000				$ 564,881,000				$ 627,879,000

[1] Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures for the six months ended May 31, 2013 related to the wind down of KBA Mortgage, LLC (“KBA Mortgage”), our unconsolidated mortgage banking joint venture with a subsidiary of Bank of America, N.A., which ceased offering mortgage banking services in 2011.