Inventories (Schedule of Capitalized Interest Costs) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2012		Aug. 31, 2011		Aug. 31, 2012		Aug. 31, 2011
Interest Costs
Capitalized interest at beginning of period	$ 235,032,000		$ 249,792,000		$ 233,461,000		$ 249,966,000
Interest incurred	39,532,000	[1]	29,090,000	[1]	99,552,000	[1]	84,489,000	[1]
Interest expensed	(23,060,000)	[1]	(12,342,000)	[1]	(53,815,000)	[1]	(36,902,000)	[1]
Interest amortized to construction and land costs	(21,215,000)		(21,733,000)		(48,909,000)		(52,746,000)
Capitalized interest at end of period	230,289,000	[2]	244,807,000	[2]	230,289,000	[2]	244,807,000	[2]
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	8,300,000				10,300,000
Gain on early extinguishment of secured debt							$ 3,600,000

[1] Amounts for the three months and nine months ended August 31, 2012 include losses on the early extinguishment of debt of $8.3 million and $10.3 million, respectively. Amounts for the nine months ended August 31, 2011 include a $3.6 million gain on the early extinguishment of secured debt.

[2] Inventory impairment charges are recognized against all inventory costs of a community, such as land, land development, cost of home construction and capitalized interest. Capitalized interest amounts presented in the table reflect the gross amount of capitalized interest as impairment charges recognized are not generally allocated to specific components of inventory.