Other Income - Net (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015	Jul. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2015
Other Nonoperating Income By Component [Line Items]
Interest income	$ 676	$ 568	$ 1,612	$ 1,754
Income from Ancillary Businesses	4,139	4,667	11,559	18,392
Management fee income from unconsolidated entities	2,348	3,051	6,863	9,441
Retained customer deposits	780	1,423	4,449	3,735
Income from land sales	6,527	2,952	11,018	10,302
Other	549	521	1,622	1,474
Total other income - net	15,121	14,070	43,474	50,005
Revenues and expenses of non-core ancillary businesses
Revenue	32,823	32,017	85,955	88,244
Expense	28,684	27,350	74,396	69,852
Revenues and expenses from land sales [Abstract]
Revenue	64,109	12,281	77,701	139,027
Expense	54,975	9,329	64,076	119,465
Income from land sales	6,527	2,952	11,018	10,302
Gibraltar [Member]
Other Nonoperating Income By Component [Line Items]
Gibraltar	102	888	6,351	4,907
Home Building Joint Venture Metro New York Three [Member]
Revenues and expenses from land sales [Abstract]
Revenue				78,500
Deferred gain on land sale to joint venture				$ (9,260)
Rental Property Joint Ventures Metro Washington, D.C. [Member]
Other Nonoperating Income By Component [Line Items]
Income from land sales	2,600
Revenues and expenses from land sales [Abstract]
Revenue	37,700		37,700
Deferred gain on land sale to joint venture	(2,607)		$ (2,607)
Income from land sales	$ 2,600