Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014
Revenue	$ 322,856	$ 281,608	$ 586,015	$ 516,449
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Land and housing	252,595	221,217	458,778	405,181
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures	0	804	0	804
General and administrative	21,705	21,281	41,039	39,596
Selling	22,935	20,251	40,621	36,220
Equity in loss (income) of unconsolidated joint ventures	(14)	22	(212)	(40)
Interest	3,750	2,730	8,212	6,900
Total costs and expenses	300,971	266,305	548,438	488,661
Income before income taxes	21,885	15,303	37,577	27,788
Provision for income taxes	8,535	1,749	14,659	1,602
Net income	13,350	13,554	22,918	26,186
Preferred Dividends	1,219	1,219	2,438	2,438
Net income to common shareholders	$ 12,131	$ 12,335	$ 20,480	$ 23,748
Earnings (loss) per common share:
Basic	$ 0.49	$ 0.50	$ 0.84	$ 0.97
Diluted	$ 0.43	$ 0.44	$ 0.74	$ 0.85
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding [Abstract]
Basic	24,531	24,470	24,523	24,444
Diluted	30,023	29,913	30,002	29,891