Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (Information for Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures) (Details) $ in Thousands		9 Months Ended
		Aug. 31, 2017 USD ($) lot joint_venture	Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($) lot joint_venture
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Number of Units in Real Estate Property | lot		90
Long-term Purchase, Commitment, Amount		$ 39,900
Number of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures | joint_venture		7	7
Long-term purchase commitment period		3 years
Investments in and Advance to Affiliates, Subsidiaries, Associates, and Joint Ventures		$ 64,513	$ 64,016
Number of Unconsolidated Joint Venture Lots Controlled Under Land Option Contracts | lot		388	471
Equity Method Investments Summarized Financial Information Debt	[1]	$ 25,618	$ 44,381
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Next Twelve Months		$ 179,000
Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures with Debt
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Number of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures | joint_venture		2	1
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Next Twelve Months		$ 24,800
Investments in Unconsolidated Joint Ventures with Purchase Commitments [Member]
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Number of investments in unconsolidated joint ventures | joint_venture		1

[1] Two of our unconsolidated joint ventures have separate construction loan agreements with different third-party lenders to finance their respective land development activities. The outstanding debt under these agreements is secured by the corresponding underlying property and related project assets and is non-recourse to us. Of this outstanding secured debt at August 31, 2017, $24.8 million is scheduled to mature in August 2018 and the remainder is scheduled to mature in February 2020. At November 30, 2016, only one of these unconsolidated joint ventures had outstanding secured debt. None of our other unconsolidated joint ventures had any outstanding debt at August 31, 2017 or November 30, 2016.