Inventory Impairments and Land Option Contract Abandonments (Narratives) (Details)		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
		May 31, 2018 USD ($) lot delivery	May 31, 2017 USD ($) delivery	May 31, 2018 USD ($) lot delivery property	May 31, 2017 USD ($) delivery property	Nov. 30, 2017 USD ($) property
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Real Estate Inventory, Capitalized Interest Costs, Cost of Sales	[1]	$ 52,433,000	$ 50,471,000	$ 94,783,000	$ 89,855,000
Impairment of Real Estate		5,993,000	4,302,000	$ 10,692,000	$ 7,519,000
Number of land parcels or communities evaluated for recoverability | property				42	43
Carrying Value of Communities or Land Parcels Evaluated for Impairment		284,100,000	381,100,000	$ 284,100,000	$ 381,100,000
Aggregate carrying value of inventory impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges		$ 169,800,000		$ 169,800,000		$ 177,800,000
Number of communities and various other land parcels impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges		18		18		24
Maximum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Fair Value Estimate Input at Average Selling Price		$ 460,500	$ 399,800	$ 774,100	$ 399,800
Fair Value Estimate Input, Delivery For Period | delivery		5	4	5	4
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate		17.00%	18.00%	18.00%	18.00%
Minimum [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Fair Value Estimate Input at Average Selling Price		$ 339,400	$ 231,000	$ 339,400	$ 231,000
Fair Value Estimate Input, Delivery For Period | delivery		4	3	3	3
Fair Value Inputs, Discount Rate		17.00%	18.00%	17.00%	17.00%
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land		$ (533,000)	$ (1,699,000)	$ (819,000)	$ (2,490,000)
West Coast [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate		5,993,000	3,144,000	10,692,000	3,144,000
West Coast [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land		(388,000)	(1,044,000)	(596,000)	(1,835,000)
Central [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate		0	0	0	0
Central [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land		(145,000)	(518,000)	(223,000)	(518,000)
Southeast [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Impairment of Real Estate		0	1,158,000	0	3,032,000
Southeast [Member] | Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Land		0	(137,000)	0	(137,000)
Land [Member]
Fair Value Inputs, Assets, Quantitative Information [Line Items]
Real Estate Inventory, Capitalized Interest Costs, Cost of Sales		$ 3,100,000	$ 1,100,000	$ 4,100,000	$ 1,600,000

[1] Interest amortized to construction and land costs for the three months ended May 31, 2018 and 2017 included $3.1 million and $1.1 million, respectively, related to land sales during those periods.