Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Nov. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2018 USD ($)	May 31, 2018 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2018 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2017 USD ($)	May 31, 2017 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2017 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2018 USD ($) segment	Nov. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		$ 1,125,152				$ 1,236,848				$ 1,125,152	$ 1,236,848
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		2,219,936				1,651,339				2,219,936	1,651,339
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	[1]	237,751				375,199				237,751	375,199
Inventory, Operative Builders		3,582,839				3,263,386				3,582,839	3,263,386
Revenues:
Revenues										4,533,795	4,356,265	$ 3,582,943
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)		128,936	$ 114,676	$ 78,308	$ 46,045	137,346	$ 79,208	$ 51,982	$ 21,459	367,965	289,995	149,315
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										9,367	2,825	(5,601)
Impairment of Real Estate										26,104	20,605	49,580
Assets:
Total assets		5,073,571				5,041,515				5,073,571	5,041,515
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		61,960				64,794				$ 61,960	64,794
Homebuilding [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment										4
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										$ 351,301	276,927	144,849
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										2,066	(1,409)	(2,181)
Assets:
Total assets		5,061,191				5,029,158				$ 5,061,191	5,029,158
Financial services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment										1
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										$ 16,664	13,068	4,466
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										7,301	4,234	(3,420)
Assets:
Total assets		12,380				12,357				12,380	12,357
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	[2]	$ 8,594				10,340				$ 8,594	10,340
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)										$ (105,286)	(101,851)	(98,511)
Assets:
Total assets		$ 1,068,452				1,433,883				1,068,452	1,433,883
Central [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		312,366				320,205				312,366	320,205
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		543,472				435,373				543,472	435,373
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		9,346				12,654				9,346	12,654
Revenues:
Revenues										1,239,305	1,188,839	1,018,535
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										1,463	0	10,633
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		0				0				0	0
Central [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										117,609	116,098	85,924
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										0	0	0
Assets:
Total assets		1,017,490				901,516				1,017,490	901,516
West Coast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		514,099				638,639				514,099	638,639
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		1,059,432				723,761				1,059,432	723,761
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		154,462				233,188				154,462	233,188
Revenues:
Revenues										2,085,328	2,186,411	1,638,078
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										19,169	13,482	8,209
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		56,128				53,506				56,128	53,506
West Coast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										240,337	217,649	148,014
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(966)	(1,770)	(1,561)
Assets:
Total assets		1,880,516				1,747,786				1,880,516	1,747,786
Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		125,651				98,764				125,651	98,764
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		212,831				182,533				212,831	182,533
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		52,806				66,882				52,806	66,882
Revenues:
Revenues										502,087	447,963	478,857
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										5,472	3,678	27,547
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		2,505				2,504				2,505	2,504
Southeast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										7,624	(509)	(29,385)
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										(1)	(1)	(2)
Assets:
Total assets		463,224				359,307				463,224	359,307
Southwest [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction		173,036				179,240				173,036	179,240
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs		404,201				309,672				404,201	309,672
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale		21,137				62,475				21,137	62,475
Revenues:
Revenues										707,075	533,052	447,473
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate										0	3,445	3,191
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures		3,327				8,784				3,327	8,784
Southwest [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)										91,017	45,540	38,807
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures										3,033	362	(618)
Assets:
Total assets		$ 631,509				$ 586,666				$ 631,509	586,666
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										$ 2,890	4,627	3,232
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Central [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										1,095	846	460
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | West Coast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										1,212	3,225	769
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										151	556	1,750
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southwest [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination										$ 432	$ 0	$ 253
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 $9.8 million at November 30, 2018 and $21.8 million at November 30, 2017.

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