Financial Instruments (Fair Value Assets Measured On Nonrecurring Basis) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	May 31, 2012		May 31, 2011		May 31, 2012		May 31, 2011
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Valuation Adjustments To Land With Intend To Sell Or Has Sold To Third Parties	$ (348)		$ (228)		$ (348)		$ (281)
Total Gains (Losses) on Investments in unconsolidated entities	(7)		(150)		(18)		(8,412)
Discount rate for impairment					20.00%
Lennar Homebuilding [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Total Gains (Losses) on Investments in unconsolidated entities					(8,400)
Finished homes and construction in progress carrying value before impairments	3,617		6,046		7,190		15,190
Land And Land Under Development Carrying Value Before Impairments	13,650				13,650
Equity method investments carrying value before impairment			29,900				38,623
Lennar Homebuilding [Member] | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Finished homes and construction in progress, Fair Value	1,213	[1]	2,718	[2]	2,761	[3]	7,050	[3]
Land And Land Under Development Fair Value	13,318	[4]			13,318	[5]
Investments in unconsolidated entities, Fair Value			29,682	[6]			30,211	[7]
Total Gains (Losses) on Finished homes and construction in process	(2,404)	[1]	(3,328)	[2]	(4,429)	[3]	(8,140)	[8]
Valuation Adjustments To Land With Intend To Sell Or Has Sold To Third Parties	(332)	[4]			(332)	[5]
Total Gains (Losses) on Investments in unconsolidated entities			(150)	[6]			(8,412)	[7]
Rialto Investments [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
REO held-for-sale carrying value before gains	1,500		77,000		2,000		245,700
REO held-for-sale carrying value before impairments	2,600				14,100
REO held-and-used carrying value before gains	64,200		1,000		105,400		8,100
REO held-and-used carrying value before impairments	3,300				14,000
Rialto Investments [Member] | Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member]
Fair Value, Balance Sheet Grouping, Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
REO - held-for-sale, Fair Value	2,443	[9]	94,568	[10]	13,866	[11]	280,209	[12]
REO - held-and-used, net, Fair Value	66,085	[13]	1,391	[14]	120,373	[15]	8,734	[16]
Total Gains (Losses) on REO held-for-sale	(1,726)	[9]	17,550	[10]	(2,188)	[11]	34,490	[12]
Total Gains (Losses) on REO held-and-used	(1,458)	[13]	381	[14]	955	[15]	550	[16]
REO held-for-sale fair value after gains	200				1,400
Gains (Losses) on REO held-for-sale	(1,300)				(600)
REO held-for-sale fair value after impairments	2,200				12,500
REO held-for-sale, impairments	400				1,600
REO held-and-used fair value after gains	63,400				109,700
Gains (Losses) on REO held-and-used	(800)				4,300
REO held-and-used fair value after impairments	2,600				10,700
Real Estate Held and Used, Impairments	$ 700				$ 3,300

[1] Finished homes and construction in progress with an aggregate carrying value of $3.6 million were written down to their fair value of $1.2 million, resulting in valuation adjustments of $2.4 million, which were included in Lennar Homebuilding costs and expenses in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2012.

[2] Finished homes and construction in progress with an aggregate carrying value of $6.0 million were written down to their fair value of $2.7 million, resulting in valuation adjustments of $3.3 million, which were included in Lennar Homebuilding costs and expenses in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2011.

[3] Finished homes and construction in progress with an aggregate carrying value of $7.2 million were written down to their fair value of $2.8 million, resulting in valuation adjustments of $4.4 million, which were included in Lennar Homebuilding costs and expenses in the Company’s statement of operations for the six months ended May 31, 2012.

[4] Land and land under development with an aggregate carrying value of $13.6 million were written down to their fair value of $13.3 million, resulting in valuation adjustments of $0.3 million, which were included in Lennar Homebuilding costs and expenses in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2012.

[5] Land and land under development with an aggregate carrying value of $13.6 million were written down to their fair value of $13.3 million, resulting in valuation adjustments of ($0.3) million, which were included in Lennar Homebuilding costs and expenses in the Company’s statement of operations for the six months ended May 31, 2012.

[6] Lennar Homebuilding investments in unconsolidated entities with an aggregate carrying value of $29.9 million were written down to their fair value of $29.7 million, resulting in valuation adjustments of $0.2 million, which were included in Lennar Homebuilding other income, net in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2011.

[7] Lennar Homebuilding investments in unconsolidated entities with an aggregate carrying value of $38.6 million were written down to their fair value of $30.2 million, resulting in valuation adjustments $8.4 million , which were included in Lennar Homebuilding other income, net in the Company’s statement of operations for the six months ended May 31, 2011.

[8] Finished homes and construction in progress with an aggregate carrying value of $15.2 million were written down to their fair value of $7.1 million, resulting in valuation adjustments of $8.1 million, which were included in Lennar Homebuilding costs and expenses in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2011.

[9] REO, held-for-sale, assets are initially recorded at fair value less estimated costs to sell at the time of acquisition through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure. Upon acquisition, the REO, held-for-sale, had a carrying value of $1.5 million and a fair value of $0.2 million. The fair value of REO, held-for-sale, is based upon the appraised value at the time of foreclosure or management’s best estimate. The losses upon acquisition of REO, held-for-sale, were ($1.3) million. As part of management’s periodic valuations of its REO, held-for-sale, during the three months ended May 31, 2012, REO, held-for-sale, with an aggregate value of $2.6 million were written down to their fair value of $2.2 million, resulting in impairments of $0.4 million. These losses and impairments are included within Rialto Investments other income (expense), net in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2012.

[10] REO, held-for-sale, assets are initially recorded at fair value less estimated costs to sell at the time of acquisition through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure. Upon acquisition, the REO, held-for-sale, had a carrying value of $77.0 million and a fair value of $94.6 million. The fair value of REO, held-for-sale, is based upon the appraised value at the time of foreclosure or management’s best estimate. The gains upon acquisition of REO, held-for-sale, were $17.6 million and are included within Rialto Investments other income (expense), net in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2011.

[11] REO, held-for-sale, assets are initially recorded at fair value less estimated costs to sell at the time of acquisition through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure. Upon acquisition, the REO, held-for-sale, had a carrying value of $2.0 million and a fair value of $1.4 million. The fair value of REO, held-for-sale, is based upon the appraised value at the time of foreclosure or management’s best estimate. The losses upon acquisition of REO, held-for-sale, were ($0.6) million. As part of management’s periodic valuations of its REO, held-for-sale, during the six months ended May 31, 2012, REO, held-for-sale, with an aggregate value of $14.1 million were written down to their fair value of $12.5 million, resulting in impairments of $1.6 million. These losses and impairments are included within Rialto Investments other income (expense), net in the Company’s statement of operations for the six months ended May 31, 2012.

[12] REO, held-for-sale, assets are initially recorded at fair value less estimated costs to sell at the time of acquisition through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure. Upon acquisition, the REO, held-for-sale, had a carrying value of $245.7 million and a fair value of $280.2 million. The fair value of REO, held-for-sale, is based upon the appraised value at the time of foreclosure or management’s best estimate. The gains upon acquisition of REO, held-for-sale, were $34.5 million and are included within Rialto Investments other income (expense), net in the Company’s statement of operations for the six months ended May 31, 2011.

[13] REO, held-and-used, net, assets are initially recorded at fair value at the time of acquisition through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure. Upon acquisition, the REO, held-and-used, net, had a carrying value of $64.2 million and a fair value of $63.4 million. The fair value of REO, held-and-used, net, is based upon the appraised value at the time of foreclosure or management’s best estimate. The losses upon acquisition of REO, held-and-used, net, were ($0.8) million. As part of management’s periodic valuations of its REO, held-and-used, net, during the three months ended May 31, 2012, REO, held-and-used, net, with an aggregate value of $3.3 million were written down to their fair value of $2.6 million, resulting in impairments of $0.7 million. These losses and impairments are included within Rialto Investments other income (expense), net in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2012.

[14] REO, held-and-used, net, assets are initially recorded at fair value at the time of acquisition through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure. Upon acquisition, the REO, held-and-used, net, had a carrying value of $1.0 million and a fair value of $1.4 million. The fair value of REO, held-and-used, net, is based upon the appraised value at the time of foreclosure or management’s best estimate. The gains upon acquisition of REO, held-and-used, net, were $0.4 million and are included within Rialto Investments other income (expense), net in the Company’s statement of operations for the three months ended May 31, 2011.

[15] REO, held-and-used, net, assets are initially recorded at fair value at the time of acquisition through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure. Upon acquisition, the REO, held-and-used, net, had a carrying value of $105.4 million and a fair value of $109.7 million. The fair value of REO, held-and-used, net, is based upon the appraised value at the time of foreclosure or management’s best estimate. The gains upon acquisition of REO, held-and-used, net, were $4.3 million. As part of management’s periodic valuations of its REO, held-and-used, net, during the six months ended May 31, 2012, REO, held-and-used, net, with an aggregate value of $14.0 million were written down to their fair value of $10.7 million, resulting in impairments of $3.3 million. These gains and impairments are included within Rialto Investments other income (expense), net in the Company’s statement of operations for the six months ended May 31, 2012.

[16] REO, held-and-used, net, assets are initially recorded at fair value at the time of acquisition through, or in lieu of, loan foreclosure. Upon acquisition, the REO, held-and-used, net, had a carrying value of $8.1 million and a fair value of $8.7 million. The fair value of REO, held-and-used, net, is based upon the appraised value at the time of foreclosure or management’s best estimate. The gains upon acquisition of REO, held-and-used, net, were $0.6 million and are included within Rialto Investments other income (expense), net in the Company’s statement of operations for the six months ended May 31, 2011.