Inventory Impairments and Land Option Contract Abandonments (Narratives) (Details)	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2016 USD ($) property lot delivery	Feb. 29, 2016 USD ($)	May 31, 2015 USD ($) lot delivery	May 31, 2016 USD ($) property lot delivery	May 31, 2015 USD ($) property lot delivery	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($) property
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Acquisition Costs Related To Land Option Contracts And Other Similar Contracts	$ 63,200,000			$ 63,200,000		$ 65,600,000
Number of land parcels or communities evaluated for recoverability | property				32	26
Carrying Value of Communities or Land Parcels Evaluated for Impairment	248,700,000		$ 212,500,000	$ 248,700,000	$ 212,500,000
Impairment of Real Estate	9,930,000		$ 0	11,276,000	$ 0	8,000,000
Aggregate carrying value of inventory impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	$ 221,400,000			$ 221,400,000		$ 254,200,000
Number of communities and various other land parcels impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	24			24		28
Land Option Contract Abandonment Lots | lot	312		114	492	426
Maximum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Fair Value Estimate Input at Average Selling Price	$ 280,100		$ 0	$ 310,000	$ 0
Fair Value Estimate Input, Delivery For Period | delivery	4		0	4	0
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate	20.00%		0.00%	20.00%	0.00%
Minimum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Fair Value Estimate Input at Average Selling Price	$ 280,100		$ 0	$ 280,100	$ 0
Fair Value Estimate Input, Delivery For Period | delivery	4		0	2	0
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate	17.00%		0.00%	17.00%	0.00%
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land	$ (1,810,000)		$ (536,000)	$ (2,430,000)	$ (984,000)
West Coast [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate			0		0
West Coast [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land	(261,000)		0	(421,000)	0
Central [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate	0		0	787,000	0
Central [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land	$ 0		0	(460,000)	0
Southeast [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate			0	5,915,000	0
Southeast [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land			$ (536,000)	$ (1,438,000)	$ (984,000)
Land [Member] | West Coast [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Number of Land Parcels or Communities Associated with Non Cash Inventory Impairment Charges | property	1			1
Impairment of Real Estate	$ 4,574,000			$ 4,574,000
Land [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate		$ 559,000
Metro Washington, D.C. [Member] | Southeast [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land	$ (1,438,000)			(1,400,000)
Metro Washington, D.C. [Member] | Land [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate				$ 5,400,000
Metro Washington, D.C. [Member] | Land [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Number of Land Parcels or Communities Associated with Non Cash Inventory Impairment Charges | property	2			2
Impairment of Real Estate	$ 5,356,000