Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Revenue	$ 456,866	$ 401,247	$ 863,846	$ 725,617
Costs and Expenses [Abstract]
Land and housing	367,598	319,708	687,879	579,880
General and administrative	30,112	26,830	57,872	49,089
Selling	30,247	25,533	57,530	47,799
Equity in income of joint venture arrangements	(110)	(82)	(127)	(389)
Interest	3,834	4,308	9,172	9,573
Total costs and expenses	431,681	376,297	812,326	685,952
Income before income taxes	25,185	24,950	51,520	39,665
Provision for income taxes	8,196	9,034	17,648	14,560
Net income	16,989	15,916	33,872	25,105
Preferred Dividends	1,219	1,219	2,438	2,438
Net income to common shareholders	$ 15,770	$ 14,697	$ 31,434	$ 22,667
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$ 0.63	$ 0.60	$ 1.26	$ 0.92
Diluted	$ 0.55	$ 0.52	$ 1.09	$ 0.81
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding [Abstract]
Basic	24,990	24,669	24,864	24,663
Diluted	30,619	30,077	30,471	30,055