Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Statement of Operations [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 621,702	$ 476,423	$ 456,866	$ 406,980	$ 523,246	$ 442,464	$ 401,247	$ 324,370	$ 1,961,971	$ 1,691,327	$ 1,418,395
Land and housing									1,561,022	1,358,183	1,114,663
Impairment of inventory and investment in joint venture arrangements									7,681	3,992	3,638
General and administrative									126,282	111,600	93,208
Selling									128,327	108,809	95,092
Equity in income of joint venture arrangements									(539)	(640)	(498)
Interest									18,874	17,598	17,521
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	7,842
Total costs and expenses									1,841,647	1,599,542	1,331,466
Income before income taxes									120,324	91,785	86,929
Provision (benefit) from income taxes									48,243	35,176	35,166
Net income									72,081	56,609	51,763
Preferred dividends									3,656	4,875	4,875
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed									2,257	0	0
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders	$ 15,882	$ 18,852	$ 15,770	$ 15,664	$ 19,343	$ 9,724	$ 14,697	$ 7,970	$ 66,168	$ 51,734	$ 46,888
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$ 0.57	$ 0.74	$ 0.63	$ 0.63	$ 0.78	$ 0.39	$ 0.60	$ 0.32	$ 2.57	$ 2.10	$ 1.91
Diluted	$ 0.53	$ 0.64	$ 0.55	$ 0.55	$ 0.67	$ 0.35	$ 0.52	$ 0.30	$ 2.26	$ 1.84	$ 1.68
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic	27,736	25,581	24,990	24,738	24,671	24,669	24,669	24,657	25,769	24,666	24,575
Diluted	31,172	30,675	30,619	30,329	30,166	30,139	30,077	30,032	30,688	30,116	30,047