Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Statement of Operations [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 722,485	$ 567,842	$ 558,098	$ 437,857	$ 621,702	$ 476,423	$ 456,866	$ 406,980	$ 2,286,282	$ 1,961,971	$ 1,691,327
Land and housing									1,836,704	1,561,022	1,358,183
Impairment of inventory and investment in joint venture arrangements									5,809	7,681	3,992
General and administrative									137,779	126,282	111,600
Selling									142,829	128,327	108,809
Acquisition and integration costs									1,700	0	0
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements									(312)	(539)	(640)
Interest									20,484	18,874	17,598
Total costs and expenses									2,144,993	1,841,647	1,599,542
Income before income taxes									141,289	120,324	91,785
Provision (benefit) from income taxes									33,626	48,243	35,176
Net income									107,663	72,081	56,609
Preferred dividends									0	3,656	4,875
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed									0	2,257	0
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders	$ 32,407	$ 29,282	$ 27,911	$ 18,063	$ 15,882	$ 18,852	$ 15,770	$ 15,664	$ 107,663	$ 66,168	$ 51,734
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$ 1.17	$ 1.03	$ 0.98	$ 0.64	$ 0.57	$ 0.74	$ 0.63	$ 0.63	$ 3.81	$ 2.57	$ 2.10
Diluted	$ 1.15	$ 1.01	$ 0.96	$ 0.60	$ 0.53	$ 0.64	$ 0.55	$ 0.55	$ 3.70	$ 2.26	$ 1.84
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic	27,774	28,469	28,571	28,124	27,736	25,581	24,990	24,738	28,234	25,769	24,666
Diluted	28,181	28,906	29,101	30,544	31,172	30,675	30,619	30,329	29,178	30,688	30,116