Document And Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2016	Mar. 04, 2016
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	HOVNANIAN ENTERPRISES INC
Trading Symbol	hov
Document Type	10-Q
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--10-31
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0000357294
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Document Period End Date	Jan. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Common Class B [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		15,317,869
Common Class A [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		131,802,260