Supplemental Guarantor Information Supplemental Guarantor Information - Income Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ 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
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
Acquisition and integration costs									0	1,700	0
General and administrative									147,954	137,779	126,282
Selling									154,384	142,829	128,327
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
Equity in Subsidiaries									0	0	0
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
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Revenue									0	0	0
Land and Housing									0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in joint venture arrangements									0	0	0
Acquisition and integration costs										0
General and administrative									0	0	0
Selling									0	0	0
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements									0	0	0
Interest									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									0	0	0
Income before income taxes									0	0	0
Provision (benefit) from income taxes									0	0	0
Equity in Subsidiaries									(127,587)	(107,663)	(72,081)
Net income									(127,587)	(107,663)	(72,081)
Preferred dividends											0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed											0
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders											(72,081)
Parent Company [Member]
Revenue									0	0	0
Land and Housing									0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in joint venture arrangements									0	0	0
Acquisition and integration costs										0
General and administrative									0	0	0
Selling									0	0	0
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements									0	0	0
Interest									0	0	0
Total costs and expenses									0	0	0
Income before income taxes									0	0	0
Provision (benefit) from income taxes									0	0	0
Equity in Subsidiaries									127,587	107,663	72,081
Net income									127,587	107,663	72,081
Preferred dividends											3,656
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed											2,257
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders											66,168
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue									2,444,967	2,234,086	1,912,278
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
Acquisition and integration costs										1,700
General and administrative									119,153	112,225	103,094
Selling									154,384	142,829	128,327
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements									0	0	0
Interest									17,724	17,215	16,117
Total costs and expenses									2,302,124	2,116,482	1,816,241
Income before income taxes									142,843	117,604	96,037
Provision (benefit) from income taxes									33,919	28,545	40,570
Equity in Subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net income									108,924	89,059	55,467
Preferred dividends											0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed											0
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders											55,467
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenue									55,323	52,196	49,693
Land and Housing									0	0	0
Impairment of inventory and investment in joint venture arrangements									0	0	0
Acquisition and integration costs										0
General and administrative									28,801	25,554	23,188
Selling									0	0	0
Equity in income from joint venture arrangements									(311)	(312)	(539)
Interest									3,651	3,269	2,757
Total costs and expenses									32,141	28,511	25,406
Income before income taxes									23,182	23,685	24,287
Provision (benefit) from income taxes									4,519	5,081	7,673
Equity in Subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net income									$ 18,663	$ 18,604	16,614
Preferred dividends											0
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed											0
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders											$ 16,614