Information on Segments (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2017

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Revenue and income (loss) before income taxes and total assets [Table Text Block]

Total assets for each of our segments at October 31, 2017 and 2016, are shown in the table below (amounts in thousands):

	2017		2016
Traditional Home Building:
North	$	1,074,969	$	1,020,250
Mid-Atlantic	1,121,013		1,166,023
South	1,184,956		1,203,554
West	1,275,298		1,130,625
California	2,630,041		2,479,885
Traditional Home Building	7,286,277		7,000,337
City Living	647,174		946,738
Corporate and other	1,511,774		1,789,714
	$	9,445,225	$	9,736,789

“Corporate and other” is comprised principally of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and investments, deferred tax assets, investments in our Rental Property Joint Ventures, expected recoveries from insurance carriers and suppliers, our Gibraltar investments, manufacturing facilities, and mortgage and title subsidiaries.

The table below summarizes revenue and income (loss) before income taxes for our segments for each of the fiscal years ended October 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015 (amounts in thousands):

	Revenue						Income (loss) before income taxes
	2017		2016		2015		2017			2016			2015
Traditional Home Building:
North	$	775,540	$	814,519	$	702,175	$	50,393		$	77,017		$	59,172
Mid-Atlantic	1,030,269		895,736		845,328		105,740			(29,361		)	69,093
South	923,953		849,548		892,303		112,809			128,613			152,991
West	1,151,697		903,691		665,282		153,188			127,265			106,365
California	1,550,494		1,448,546		750,036		345,138			335,173			139,133
Traditional Home Building	5,431,953		4,912,040		3,855,124		767,268			638,707			526,754
City Living	383,105		257,468		316,124		193,852			91,109			124,290
Corporate and other							(146,809		)	(140,789		)	(115,482		)
	$	5,815,058	$	5,169,508	$	4,171,248	$	814,311		$	589,027		$	535,562

“Corporate and other” is comprised principally of general corporate expenses such as the offices of our executive officers; the corporate finance, accounting, audit, tax, human resources, risk management, information technology, marketing, and legal groups; interest income; income from certain of our ancillary businesses, including Gibraltar; and income from a number of our unconsolidated entities.

Schedule of inventory, by segment [Table Text Block]

Inventory for each of our segments, as of the dates indicated, is shown in the table below (amounts in thousands):

	Land controlled for future communities		Land owned for future communities		Operating communities		Total
Balances at October 31, 2017
Traditional Home Building:
North	$	23,944	$	130,964	$	869,764	$	1,024,672
Mid-Atlantic	32,674		87,642		950,982		1,071,298
South	8,892		51,391		951,887		1,012,170
West	12,087		89,184		1,154,004		1,255,275
California	5,550		640,306		1,769,274		2,415,130
Traditional Home Building	83,147		999,487		5,695,911		6,778,545
City Living	4,011		143,383		355,514		502,908
	$	87,158	$	1,142,870	$	6,051,425	$	7,281,453
Balances at October 31, 2016
Traditional Home Building:
North	$	20,671	$	79,299	$	883,195	$	983,165
Mid-Atlantic	30,967		109,551		982,482		1,123,000
South	6,024		96,900		927,400		1,030,324
West	7,724		191,995		906,334		1,106,053
California	5,337		989,689		1,293,509		2,288,535
Traditional Home Building	70,723		1,467,434		4,992,920		6,531,077
City Living	1,006		416,712		405,172		822,890
	$	71,729	$	1,884,146	$	5,398,092	$	7,353,967

Schedule of inventory impairments, by segment [Table Text Block]

The amounts we have provided for inventory impairment charges and the expensing of costs that we believed not to be recoverable for each of our segments, for the years ended October 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015, are shown in the table below (amounts in thousands):

	2017		2016		2015
Traditional Home Building:
North	$	6,528	$	7,579	$	15,033
Mid-Atlantic	6,905		2,076		19,488
South	1,184		3,316		720
West	106		746		420
California	43
Traditional Home Building	14,766		13,717		35,661
City Living	28		90		48
	$	14,794	$	13,807	$	35,709

Schedule of investments in unconsolidated entities and equity in earnings (losses) from unconsolidated entities, by segment [Table Text Block]

The net carrying value of our investments in unconsolidated entities and our equity in earnings (losses) from such investments, for each of our segments, as of the dates indicated, are shown in the table below (amounts in thousands):

	Investments in unconsolidated entities				Equity in earnings (losses) from unconsolidated entities
	At October 31,				Year ended October 31,
	2017		2016		2017			2016		2015
Traditional Home Building:
Mid-Atlantic	$	11,093	$	12,639	$	(2,000	)
South	85,757		93,182		9,185			$	11,013	$	11,074
West					2,529			2,921		447
California	148,499		130,534		7,509			5,896		5,089
Traditional Home Building	245,349		236,355		17,223			19,830		16,610
City Living	92,904		85,882		73,123			13,184		(1,158		)
Corporate and other	143,505		174,174		25,720			7,734		5,667
	$	481,758	$	496,411	$	116,066		$	40,748	$	21,119

“Corporate and other” is comprised of our investments in the Rental Property Joint Ventures and the Gibraltar Joint Ventures.