Investments in and Advances to Unconsolidated Entities (Details Textual) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2014	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2014	Apr. 30, 2013	Oct. 31, 2013	Apr. 30, 2014 Development Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Development Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Development Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Development Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Development Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Development Joint Venture (five) [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Development Joint Venture (two) [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Development Joint Venture (two) [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Development Joint Venture (three) [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Development Joint Venture (three) [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Development Joint Venture (four) [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Development Joint Venture (four) [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Corporate Joint Venture [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Corporate Joint Venture [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Homebuilding Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Homebuilding Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Homebuilding Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Homebuilding Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Homebuilding Joint Ventures, Total [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Rental Joint Ventures, excluding Trusts i and II [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Rental Joint Ventures, including Trusts i and II [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Rental Joint Ventures, including Trusts i and II [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Rental Joint Ventures, including Trusts i and II [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Rental Joint Ventures, including Trusts i and II [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Rental Joint Ventures, including Trusts i and II [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Rental Joint Ventures, JVs with new borrowings [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Retail Joint Venture - two [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Retail Joint Venture - two [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Retail Joint Venture, one [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Retail Joint Venture, one [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Trust I [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Trust I [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Trust I [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Trust I [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Trust II [Member]	Jan. 31, 2014 Trust II [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Trust II [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Structured Asset Joint Venture [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Structured Asset Joint Venture [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Structured Asset Joint Venture [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Structured Asset Joint Venture [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Structured Asset Joint Venture [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Joint Ventures, variable interest entities [Member]	Oct. 31, 2013 Joint Ventures, variable interest entities [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Minimum [Member]	Apr. 30, 2014 Maximum [Member]
Investments in and Advances to Unconsolidated Entities (Textual) [Abstract]
Investments in and advances to unconsolidated entities	$ 441,842,000		$ 441,842,000		$ 403,133,000	$ 160,528,000		$ 160,528,000		$ 142,448,000		$ 24,228,000		$ 40,600,000	$ 40,600,000	$ 11,850,000		$ 77,300,000		$ 182,956,000		$ 182,956,000		$ 166,271,000	$ 75,300,000	$ 75,574,000		$ 75,574,000		$ 68,711,000			$ 14,500,000		$ 29,400,000	$ (900,000)		$ (900,000)		$ 1,200,000		$ 1,200,000	$ 22,784,000		$ 22,784,000		$ 25,703,000	$ 31,400,000	$ 22,900,000
Funding Commitments	101,742,000		101,742,000			45,400,000		45,400,000				9,000,000						10,000,000		33,000,000		33,000,000				23,300,000		23,300,000							200,000													47,800,000	41,700,000
Number of lots committed to purchase	115		115
Aggregate Purchase Commitments Unconsolidated Entities that the Company has Investments in	12,552,000		12,552,000		61,738,000
Percentage ownership held by company												50.00%			50.00%	50.00%	50.00%	50.00%															50.00%		50.00%			33.30%				50.00%
Number of joint venture with funding commitments						4		4												2		2
Number of joint ventures with loan commitments						2		2																		4		4			2
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity						105,000,000		105,000,000				25,000,000		40,000,000	40,000,000			80,000,000.00								319,800,000		319,800,000			126,000,000		54,000,000		120,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding	95,000,000		95,000,000			29,200,000		29,200,000				24,200,000						5,000,000								32,200,000		32,200,000			1,300,000		14,200,000		0
Number of Units in Real Estate Property																				600		600											287
Number of acres owned by venture																945
Number of floors in apartment building																																			38
Maximum amount of line of credit commitment												40,000,000
Owned by Third Party														50.00%																								33.30%				50.00%
Income (Loss) from Equity Method Investments	14,327,000	4,993,000	37,242,000	8,076,000		135,000	2,894,000	103,000	2,796,000											145,000	369,000	327,000	1,079,000			12,872,000	572,000	36,622,000	1,130,000							12,000,000				600,000	23,500,000		1,175,000	1,158,000	190,000	3,071,000
Proceeds from Equity Method Investment, Dividends or Distributions			39,471,000	8,855,000																												12,500,000			10,200,000					20,000,000
Land sales, net	4,929,000	110,000	11,187,000	255,000																																						2,900,000
Percent owned by Company's Management																																						33.30%
Transfer of Inventory to Investment			700,000	27,631,000																												27,100,000		28,800,000
Aggregate Purchase Commitments Unrelated Parties	1,105,268,000		1,105,268,000		1,301,987,000									79,300,000	79,300,000
Venture payment to align capital accounts																																			1,200,000
Contribution of cash to joint venture													15,480,000.00				11,800,000
unimproved lots controlled by JV												2,900		6,500	6,500	1,300		1,200	2,000
Number of lots to be acquired from joint venture	3,800		3,800								935
Management fee income	1,227,000	804,000	2,454,000	1,131,000																																600,000	500,000	1,100,000	1,100,000
Partners' Capital Account, Distributions																																				36,000,000
Joint Venture Description			Investments in 50% or less owned partnerships and affiliates are accounted for using the equity method unless it is determined that the Company has effective control of the entity, in which case the entity would be consolidated.																																										is a 20% participant with two unrelated parties that purchased a 40% interest in an entity that owns and controls a portfolio of loans and real estate
Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted	424,800,000		424,800,000
Guarantor Obligations, Term																																																		P19M	P44M
Maxiumum guarantor obigation for borrowings by JVs	61,400,000		61,400,000
Ground lease and other, guarantee	11,400,000		11,400,000																																													9,325,000	9,563,000
Number of JVs, ground lease and other	3		3
Guarantees, Fair Value Disclosure	2,010,000		2,010,000
Total joint venture loan commitments subject to guarantees	424,750,000		424,750,000
Borrowed against Loan Commitments	$ 61,400,000		$ 61,400,000
variable interest entity, number of entities, not primary beneficiary																																																3