Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 742,150	$ 653,345	$ 623,686	$ 481,109	$ 722,485	$ 567,842	$ 558,098	$ 437,857	$ 2,500,290	$ 2,286,282	$ 1,961,971
Land and Housing									2,005,861	1,836,704	1,561,022
Impairment of inventory and investment in joint venture arrangements									5,002	5,809	7,681
General and administrative									147,954	137,779	126,282
Selling									154,384	142,829	128,327
Acquisition and integration costs									0	1,700	0
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements									(311)	(312)	(539)
Interest									21,375	20,484	18,874
Total costs and expenses									2,334,265	2,144,993	1,841,647
Income before income taxes									166,025	141,289	120,324
Provision (benefit) from income taxes									38,438	33,626	48,243
Net income									127,587	107,663	72,081
Preferred dividends									0	0	3,656
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed									0	0	2,257
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders	$ 41,780	$ 37,838	$ 30,246	$ 17,723	$ 32,407	$ 29,282	$ 27,911	$ 18,063	$ 127,587	$ 107,663	$ 66,168
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$ 1.48	$ 1.35	$ 1.10	$ 0.64	$ 1.17	$ 1.03	$ 0.98	$ 0.64	$ 4.58	$ 3.81	$ 2.57
Diluted	$ 1.44	$ 1.32	$ 1.08	$ 0.63	$ 1.15	$ 1.01	$ 0.96	$ 0.60	$ 4.48	$ 3.70	$ 2.26
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic	28,297	27,981	27,599	27,498	27,774	28,469	28,571	28,124	27,846	28,234	25,769
Diluted	29,049	28,598	28,090	27,970	28,181	28,906	29,101	30,544	28,475	29,178	30,688