Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Nov. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2017 USD ($)	May 31, 2017 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2017 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2016 USD ($)	May 31, 2016 USD ($)	Feb. 29, 2016 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2017 USD ($) segment	Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		$ 1,236,848				$ 1,245,938				$ 1,236,848	$ 1,245,938
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		1,651,339				1,727,657				1,651,339	1,727,657
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	[1]	375,199				429,633				375,199	429,633
Inventory, Operative Builders		3,263,386				3,403,228				3,263,386	3,403,228
Revenues:
Revenues										4,356,265	3,582,943	$ 3,020,987
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)		137,346	$ 79,208	$ 51,982	$ 21,459	55,028	$ 53,463	$ 24,797	$ 16,027	289,995	149,315	127,043
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										2,825	(5,601)	2,488
Impairment of Real Estate										20,605	49,580	8,030
Assets:
Total assets		5,041,515				5,131,624				5,041,515	5,131,624
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		64,794				64,016				$ 64,794	64,016
Homebuilding [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment										4
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										$ 276,927	144,849	115,419
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(1,409)	(2,181)	(1,804)
Assets:
Total assets		5,029,158				5,121,125				$ 5,029,158	5,121,125
Financial services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment										1
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										$ 13,068	4,466	11,624
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										4,234	(3,420)	4,292
Assets:
Total assets		12,357				10,499				12,357	10,499
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	[2]	$ 10,340				7,771				$ 10,340	7,771
Home Community Mortgage LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture		49.90%								49.90%
KBHS, LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture		50.00%								50.00%
Corporate and Other [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										$ (101,851)	(98,511)	(92,446)
Assets:
Total assets		$ 1,433,883				1,384,983				1,433,883	1,384,983
Central [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		320,205				297,290				320,205	297,290
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		435,373				456,508				435,373	456,508
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		12,654				15,439				12,654	15,439
Revenues:
Revenues										1,188,839	1,018,535	809,738
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										0	10,633	0
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		0				0				0	0
Central [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										116,098	85,924	70,959
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										0	0	0
Assets:
Total assets		901,516				909,497				901,516	909,497
West Coast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		638,639				695,742				638,639	695,742
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		723,761				820,088				723,761	820,088
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		233,188				210,910				233,188	210,910
Revenues:
Revenues										2,186,411	1,638,078	1,402,264
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										13,482	8,209	645
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		53,506				51,612				53,506	51,612
West Coast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										217,649	148,014	127,946
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(1,770)	(1,561)	(1,106)
Assets:
Total assets		1,747,786				1,847,279				1,747,786	1,847,279
Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		98,764				122,020				98,764	122,020
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		182,533				182,554				182,533	182,554
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		66,882				80,357				66,882	80,357
Revenues:
Revenues										447,963	478,857	410,743
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										3,678	27,547	4,132
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		2,504				2,499				2,504	2,499
Southeast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										(509)	(29,385)	(22,758)
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(1)	(2)	(2)
Assets:
Total assets		359,307				414,730				359,307	414,730
Southwest [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		179,240				130,886				179,240	130,886
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		309,672				268,507				309,672	268,507
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		62,475				122,927				62,475	122,927
Revenues:
Revenues										533,052	447,473	398,242
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										3,445	3,191	3,253
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		8,784				9,905				8,784	9,905
Southwest [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										45,540	38,807	31,718
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										362	(618)	(696)
Assets:
Total assets		$ 586,666				$ 564,636				$ 586,666	564,636
Nationstar Mortgage LLC [Member] | Home Community Mortgage LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture		50.10%								50.10%
Stearns Lending, LLC [Member] | KBHS, LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture		50.00%								50.00%
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										$ 4,627	3,232	1,561
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Central [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										846	460	225
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | West Coast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										3,225	769	352
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										556	1,750	984
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southwest [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										$ 0	$ 253	$ 0
Metro Washington, D.C. [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Percent of Homebuilding Revenues											2.00%
Metro Washington, D.C. [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination											$ 1,400

[1] Land held for sale totaled $21.8 million at November 30, 2017 and $63.4 million at November 30, 2016.

[2] In 2017, we made a $5.3 million capital contribution to KBHS and received a $5.0 million distribution from HCM.