Financial Instruments and Fair Value Disclosures - (Narrative) (Details)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	May 31, 2016 USD ($) homes community	May 31, 2015 USD ($) homes community communities	May 31, 2016 USD ($) community	May 31, 2015 USD ($) homes community communities
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis, Valuation Techniques [Line Items]
Active communities	689	665	689	665
Number of communities assessed for impairment | community	20	21
Number of homesites assessed for impairment | homes	652	790
Inventory with potential indicators of impairment	$ 116,000,000.0	$ 160,300,000	$ 116,000,000.0	$ 160,300,000
Valuation adjustments to inventory			0	$ 9,600,000
Number of homesites impaired | homes				67
Number of communities impaired | community				1
Level 3
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis, Valuation Techniques [Line Items]
Carrying value of inventory		$ 46,300,000		$ 46,300,000
Level 3 | Mortgage servicing rights | Lennar Financial Services
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis, Valuation Techniques [Line Items]
Mortgage prepayment rate	14.80%
Discount rate	12.30%
Delinquency rate	6.60%
Commitments to Sell MBS
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis, Valuation Techniques [Line Items]
Open commitments	$ 1,200,000,000		$ 1,200,000,000