Segment Information (Segment Financial Information) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Feb. 29, 2016	Feb. 28, 2015	Nov. 30, 2015
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate	$ 1,346	$ 0	$ 8,000
Inventory, Homes under Construction	1,110,826		1,031,356
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	1,879,363		1,766,045
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	478,455		516,346
Inventory, Operative Builders	3,468,644		3,313,747
Revenues:
Total revenues	678,371	580,121
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	16,027	10,499
Assets:
Total assets	4,922,056		5,015,371
Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	675,742	577,888
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	14,844	8,816
Assets:
Total assets	4,909,194		5,001,343
Financial services [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	2,629	2,233
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	1,183	1,683
Assets:
Total assets	12,862		14,028
West Coast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate	0	0
Inventory, Homes under Construction	582,674		535,795
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	873,838		788,607
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	261,721		277,954
West Coast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	283,846	277,255
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	22,116	21,854
Assets:
Total assets	1,831,971		1,740,299
Southwest [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate	0	0
Inventory, Homes under Construction	106,733		112,032
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	340,375		317,331
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	90,322		104,677
Southwest [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	100,332	65,137
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	12,503	3,443
Assets:
Total assets	579,723		582,030
Central [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate	787	0
Inventory, Homes under Construction	283,817		263,345
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	435,758		421,783
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	18,349		22,082
Central [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	202,161	159,148
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	10,579	10,226
Assets:
Total assets	844,836		829,811
Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate	559	0
Inventory, Homes under Construction	137,602		120,184
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	229,392		238,324
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	108,063		111,633
Southeast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Total revenues	89,403	76,348
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	(7,564)	(9,613)
Assets:
Total assets	507,915		507,844
Corporate and Other [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Total pretax income (loss)	(22,790)	(17,094)
Assets:
Total assets	1,144,749		$ 1,341,359
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Loss on Contract Termination	620	448
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | West Coast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Loss on Contract Termination	160	0
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southwest [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Loss on Contract Termination	0	0
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Central [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Loss on Contract Termination	460	0
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Loss on Contract Termination	$ 0	$ 448