Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Statement of Operations [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 275,195	$ 208,875	$ 700,475	$ 510,994
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Land and housing	218,150	164,452	556,799	408,893
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	2,136	1,309	4,237	1,876
General and administrative	18,261	16,016	52,389	42,299
Selling	17,999	14,647	47,383	38,483
Interest	3,449	3,999	12,186	12,066
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	(278)	0	(278)	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	1,726	0	1,726	0
Total costs and expenses	261,443	200,423	674,442	503,617
Income (loss) before income taxes	13,752	8,452	26,033	7,377
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	(111,559)	138	(111,129)	(955)
Net income (loss)	125,311	8,314	137,162	8,332
Preferred Dividends	1,219	0	2,438	0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed	0	0	2,190	0
Net income to common shareholders	$ 124,092	$ 8,314	$ 132,534	$ 8,332
Earnings (loss) per common share:
Basic	$ 5.09	$ 0.43	$ 5.61	$ 0.44
Diluted	$ 4.22	$ 0.42	$ 4.79	$ 0.43
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding [Abstract]
Basic	24,358	19,434	23,642	19,014
Diluted	29,745	20,273	28,410	19,238