Inventories - Schedule of Inventory (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2023	Dec. 31, 2022
Inventory [Line Items]
Housing completed or under construction	$ 1,585,951	$ 1,722,061
Land and land under development	1,671,824	1,793,718
Total inventories	3,257,775	3,515,779
Homebuilding:
Inventory [Line Items]
Housing completed or under construction	1,585,951	1,722,061
Land and land under development	1,671,824	1,793,718
Total inventories	3,257,775	3,515,779
Homebuilding: \| West
Inventory [Line Items]
Housing completed or under construction	954,131	1,026,880
Land and land under development	1,065,767	1,145,119
Homebuilding: \| Mountain
Inventory [Line Items]
Housing completed or under construction	455,785	511,092
Land and land under development	405,725	433,893
Homebuilding: \| East
Inventory [Line Items]
Housing completed or under construction	176,035	184,089
Land and land under development	$ 200,332	$ 214,706

Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of capitalized construction costs of homes for future sale.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(6)(a))
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InventoryHomesUnderConstruction
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InventoryLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after valuation and LIFO reserves of inventory expected to be sold, or consumed within one year or operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(6))
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124098289&loc=d3e6676-107765

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 852
-SubTopic 10
-Section 55
-Paragraph 10
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84165509&loc=d3e56426-112766

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InventoryNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Carrying amount as of the balance sheet date, net of valuation allowances and impairment losses, of costs of land expected to be developed in the near term plus capitalized costs of development, for purposes of selling completed units to home buyers or commercial or industrial entities..

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InventoryRealEstateLandAndLandDevelopmentCosts
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=mdc_HomebuildingSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsegmentsAxis=mdc_ReportableSegmentWestMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsegmentsAxis=mdc_ReportableSegmentMountainMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsegmentsAxis=mdc_ReportableSegmentEastMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: