Note 3 - Interest (Details) - Interest Costs Incurred, Expensed and Capitalized (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2015		Jan. 31, 2014
Interest Costs Incurred, Expensed and Capitalized [Abstract]
Interest capitalized at beginning of period	$ 109,158		$ 105,093
Plus interest incurred(1)	41,472	[1]	34,819	[1]
Less cost of sales interest expensed	11,318		9,490
Less other interest expensed(2)(3)	25,071	[2],[3]	23,333	[2],[3]
Interest capitalized at end of period(4)	$ 114,241	[4]	$ 107,089	[4]

[1] Data does not include interest incurred by our mortgage and finance subsidiaries.

[2] Other interest expensed includes interest that does not qualify for interest capitalization because our assets that qualify for interest capitalization (inventory under development) do not exceed our debt. Also includes interest on completed homes and land in planning, which does not qualify for capitalization, and therefore is expensed.

[3] Cash paid for interest, net of capitalized interest, is the sum of other interest expensed, as defined above, and interest paid by our mortgage and finance subsidiaries adjusted for the change in accrued interest on notes payable, which is calculated as follows:

[4] Capitalized interest amounts are shown gross before allocating any portion of impairments, if any, to capitalized interest.