Supplemental Guarantor Information Supplemental Guarantor Information - Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Revenue	$ 558,098	$ 456,866	$ 995,955	$ 863,846
Land and housing	449,336	367,598	798,038	687,879
General and administrative	34,666	30,112	62,617	57,872
Selling	35,591	30,247	65,654	57,530
Acquisition and integration costs	0	0	1,700	0
Equity in loss (income) from joint venture arrangements	86	(110)	(224)	(127)
Interest	4,888	3,834	10,766	9,172
Total costs and expenses	524,567	431,681	938,551	812,326
Income before income taxes	33,531	25,185	57,404	51,520
Provision for income taxes	5,620	8,196	11,430	17,648
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income	27,911	16,989	45,974	33,872
Preferred Dividends	0	1,219	0	2,438
Net income to common shareholders	27,911	15,770	45,974	31,434
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Selling	0	0	0	0
Acquisition and integration costs			0
Equity in loss (income) from joint venture arrangements	0	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	0	0	0	0
Income before income taxes	0	0	0	0
Provision for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Equity In subsidiaries	(27,911)	(16,989)	(45,974)	(33,872)
Net income	(27,911)	(16,989)	(45,974)	(33,872)
Preferred Dividends		0		0
Net income to common shareholders		(16,989)		(33,872)
Parent Company [Member]
Revenue	0	0	0	0
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Selling	0	0	0	0
Acquisition and integration costs			0
Equity in loss (income) from joint venture arrangements	0	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0	0
Total costs and expenses	0	0	0	0
Income before income taxes	0	0	0	0
Provision for income taxes	0	0	0	0
Equity In subsidiaries	27,911	16,989	45,974	33,872
Net income	27,911	16,989	45,974	33,872
Preferred Dividends		1,219		2,438
Net income to common shareholders		15,770		31,434
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	546,222	444,998	969,053	837,671
Land and housing	449,336	367,598	798,038	687,879
General and administrative	28,570	24,915	50,741	47,375
Selling	35,591	30,247	65,654	57,530
Acquisition and integration costs			1,700
Equity in loss (income) from joint venture arrangements	0	0	0	0
Interest	4,193	3,169	9,301	7,839
Total costs and expenses	517,690	425,929	925,434	800,623
Income before income taxes	28,532	19,069	43,619	37,048
Provision for income taxes	4,552	6,246	8,458	12,735
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income	23,980	12,823	35,161	24,313
Preferred Dividends		0		0
Net income to common shareholders		12,823		24,313
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	11,876	11,868	26,902	26,175
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	6,096	5,197	11,876	10,497
Selling	0	0	0	0
Acquisition and integration costs			0
Equity in loss (income) from joint venture arrangements	86	(110)	(224)	(127)
Interest	695	665	1,465	1,333
Total costs and expenses	6,877	5,752	13,117	11,703
Income before income taxes	4,999	6,116	13,785	14,472
Provision for income taxes	1,068	1,950	2,972	4,913
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income	$ 3,931	4,166	$ 10,813	9,559
Preferred Dividends		0		0
Net income to common shareholders		$ 4,166		$ 9,559