Note 9 - Leases (Details Textual) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset	$ 33,500
Operating Lease, Liability, Total	34,583
Lessee, Operating Lease, Lease Not yet Commenced, Payment	600
Financial Services Segment [Member] \| Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities [Member]
Operating Lease, Liability, Total	$ 1,100
Company Headquarters [Member]
Lessee, Operating Lease, Term of Contract	10 years
Lessee, Operating Lease, Renewal Term	10 years
Minimum [Member]
Lessee, Operating Lease, Term of Contract	3 years
Maximum [Member]
Lessee, Operating Lease, Term of Contract	5 years

Payment for leases signed, but not yet commenced.

No definition available.

Name:	mdc_LesseeOperatingLeaseLeaseNotYetCommencedPayment
Namespace Prefix:	mdc_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Term of lessee's operating lease renewal, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918673-209980

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeOperatingLeaseRenewalTerm
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Term of lessee's operating lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeOperatingLeaseTermOfContract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Present value of lessee's discounted obligation for lease payments from operating lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888419&loc=SL77918627-209977

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeaseLiability
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of lessee's right to use underlying asset under operating lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888419&loc=SL77918627-209977

+ Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_AccountsPayableAndAccruedLiabilitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LeaseArrangementTypeAxis=mdc_CompanyHeadquartersMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
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