Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Statement of Operations [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 281,608	$ 234,553	$ 516,449	$ 425,280
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Land and housing	221,217	187,136	405,181	338,649
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	804	1,201	804	2,101
General and administrative	21,281	18,149	39,596	34,128
Selling	20,251	16,275	36,220	29,384
Interest	2,730	4,397	6,900	8,737
Equity in loss (income) of unconsolidated joint ventures	22	0	(40)	0
Total costs and expenses	266,305	227,158	488,661	412,999
Income (loss) before income taxes	15,303	7,395	27,788	12,281
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	1,749	131	1,602	430
Net income (loss)	13,554	7,264	26,186	11,851
Preferred Dividends	1,219	1,219	2,438	1,219
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed	0	0	0	2,190
Net income to common shareholders	$ 12,335	$ 6,045	$ 23,748	$ 8,442
Earnings (loss) per common share:
Basic	$ 0.50	$ 0.25	$ 0.97	$ 0.36
Diluted	$ 0.44	$ 0.25	$ 0.85	$ 0.36
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding [Abstract]
Basic	24,470	24,271	24,444	23,278
Diluted	29,913	24,646	29,891	23,671