Inventory Impairments and Land Option Contract Abandonments (Narratives) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2014 property lot	Aug. 31, 2013 property lot	Aug. 31, 2014 property lot	Aug. 31, 2013 lot property	Nov. 30, 2013 property
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Acquisition Costs Related To Land Option Contracts And Other Similar Contracts	$ 50,100,000		$ 50,100,000		$ 31,000,000
Number of land parcels or communities evaluated for recoverability	20	16	42	54
Pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	(3,408,000)	0	(3,408,000)	0	(400,000)
Aggregate carrying value of inventory impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	292,000,000		292,000,000		293,100,000
Number of communities and various other land parcels impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	34		34		42
Land Option Contract Abandonment Lots Associated with Projects Less Than $100,000			7,018	4,681
Land Option Contract Abandonment Lots	624	0	1,306	82
Remaining useful life in addition to specified useful lives (in years)			1 year
Specified period of remaining useful lives (in years)			10 years
Expected Realization Period of Inventory (in years)			5 years
Maximum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Acquisition Costs Related To Land Option Contracts And Other Similar Contracts	100,000		100,000
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land	$ (1,013,000)	$ 0	$ (1,803,000)	$ (284,000)