Inventory Impairments and Land Option Contract Abandonments (Narratives) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Feb. 28, 2015 property lot	Feb. 28, 2014 property lot	Nov. 30, 2014 property
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Acquisition Costs Related To Land Option Contracts And Other Similar Contracts	$ 50,200,000		$ 48,000,000
Number of land parcels or communities evaluated for recoverability	20	11
Carrying Value of Communities or Land Parcels Evaluated for Impairment	165,100,000	61,300,000
Pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	0	0	(37,600,000)
Aggregate carrying value of inventory impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	266,700,000		266,600,000
Number of communities and various other land parcels impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	30		33
Land Option Contract Abandonment Lots Associated with Projects Less Than $100,000		3,380
Land Option Contract Abandonment Lots	312	650
Maximum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Acquisition Costs Related To Land Option Contracts And Other Similar Contracts	100,000
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land	$ (448,000)	$ (433,000)