Information on Segments (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2016	Apr. 30, 2016	Jan. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015	Jul. 31, 2015	Apr. 30, 2015	Jan. 31, 2015	Oct. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015	Oct. 31, 2014
Revenues
Revenues	$ 1,855,451	$ 1,269,934	$ 1,115,557	$ 928,566	$ 1,437,202	$ 1,028,011	$ 852,583	$ 853,452	$ 5,169,508	$ 4,171,248	$ 3,911,602
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes	168,160	$ 163,653	$ 140,397	$ 116,817	217,543	$ 107,464	$ 86,532	$ 124,023	589,027	535,562	504,582
Total assets
Total assets	9,736,789				9,206,515				9,736,789	9,206,515
North [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									814,519	702,175	662,734
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									77,017	59,172	56,983
Total assets
Total assets	1,020,250				1,061,777				1,020,250	1,061,777
Mid-Atlantic [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									895,736	845,328	817,306
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									(29,361)	69,093	78,971
Total assets
Total assets	1,166,023				1,225,988				1,166,023	1,225,988
South [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									849,548	892,303	836,498
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									128,613	152,991	113,584
Total assets
Total assets	1,203,554				1,196,650				1,203,554	1,196,650
West [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									903,691	665,282	517,925
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									127,265	106,365	78,802
Total assets
Total assets	1,130,625				949,566				1,130,625	949,566
California [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									1,448,546	750,036	795,802
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									335,173	139,133	157,561
Total assets
Total assets	2,479,885				2,243,309				2,479,885	2,243,309
Traditional Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									4,912,040	3,855,124	3,630,265
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									638,707	526,754	485,901
Total assets
Total assets	7,000,337				6,677,290				7,000,337	6,677,290
City Living [Member]
Revenues
Revenues									257,468	316,124	281,337
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									91,109	124,290	104,580
Total assets
Total assets	946,738				873,013				946,738	873,013
Corporate and other [Member]
Revenues
Revenues
Income (loss) before income taxes
Income before income taxes									(140,789)	(115,482)	$ (85,899)
Total assets
Total assets	$ 1,789,714				$ 1,656,212				$ 1,789,714	$ 1,656,212