Inventory Impairments and Land Option Contract Abandonments (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Feb. 29, 2012 Lots Property Impairment	Feb. 28, 2011 Lots Property	Nov. 30, 2011 Impairment
Inventory Impairments and Land Option Contract Abandonments (Textual) [Abstract]
Number of land parcels or communities evaluated for recoverability	37	31
Discount rate used in estimating discounted cash flow	17.00%	17.00%
Pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	$ 6,572,000	$ 992,000	$ 22,700,000
Post impairment fair value	12,200,000	1,200,000
Number of land parcels or communities associated with non cash inventory impairment charges	2	3
Land option contract abandonment charges	0	762,000
Number of lots on which abandonment charges are recognized	0	141
Aggregate carrying value of inventory impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	$ 341,700,000		$ 338,500,000
Number of communities and various other land parcels impacted by pretax, noncash inventory impairment charges	52		53
Remaining useful life in addition to specified useful lives	1 year
Specified period of remaining useful lives	10 years
Expected realization period of inventory maximum	5 years