Supplemental Guarantor Information Supplemental Guarantor Information - Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Revenue	$ 567,842	$ 476,423	$ 1,563,797	$ 1,340,269
Land and housing	452,029	374,673	1,250,067	1,062,552
General and administrative	36,897	31,337	99,514	89,209
Selling	35,054	31,136	100,708	88,666
Acquisition and integration costs	0	0	1,700	0
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements	(44)	(71)	(268)	(198)
Interest	4,426	4,675	15,192	13,847
Total costs and expenses	528,362	441,750	1,466,913	1,254,076
Income before income taxes	39,480	34,673	96,884	86,193
Provision for income taxes	10,198	12,346	21,628	29,994
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income	29,282	22,327	75,256	56,199
Preferred Dividends	0	1,218	0	3,656
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed	0	2,257	0	2,257
Net income to common shareholders	29,282	18,852	75,256	50,286
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 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	(29,282)	(22,327)	(75,256)	(56,199)
Net income	(29,282)	(22,327)	(75,256)	(56,199)
Preferred Dividends		0		0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed		0		0
Net income to common shareholders		(22,327)		(56,199)
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 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	29,282	22,327	75,256	56,199
Net income	29,282	22,327	75,256	56,199
Preferred Dividends		1,218		3,656
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed		2,257		2,257
Net income to common shareholders		18,852		50,286
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	555,649	464,660	1,524,702	1,302,331
Land and housing	452,029	374,673	1,250,067	1,062,552
General and administrative	30,180	25,263	80,921	72,638
Selling	35,054	31,136	100,708	88,666
Acquisition and integration costs			1,700
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements	0	0	0	0
Interest	3,592	4,019	12,893	11,858
Total costs and expenses	520,855	435,091	1,446,289	1,235,714
Income before income taxes	34,794	29,569	78,413	66,617
Provision for income taxes	9,253	10,672	17,711	23,407
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income	25,541	18,897	60,702	43,210
Preferred Dividends		0		0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed		0		0
Net income to common shareholders		18,897		43,210
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue	12,193	11,763	39,095	37,938
Land and housing	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	6,717	6,074	18,593	16,571
Selling	0	0	0	0
Acquisition and integration costs			0
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements	(44)	(71)	(268)	(198)
Interest	834	656	2,299	1,989
Total costs and expenses	7,507	6,659	20,624	18,362
Income before income taxes	4,686	5,104	18,471	19,576
Provision for income taxes	945	1,674	3,917	6,587
Equity In subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Net income	$ 3,741	3,430	$ 14,554	12,989
Preferred Dividends		0		0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed		0		0
Net income to common shareholders		$ 3,430		$ 12,989