Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2015 USD ($)	May. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2014 USD ($)	May. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2014 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($) segment	Nov. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2013 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	$ 1,031,356				$ 928,272				$ 1,031,356	$ 928,272
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	1,766,045				1,710,149				1,766,045	1,710,149
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	516,346				579,966				516,346	579,966
Inventory, Operative Builders	3,313,747				3,218,387				$ 3,313,747	3,218,387
Number of Reportable Segments | segment									5
Revenues:
Revenues	985,783	$ 843,157	$ 622,969	$ 580,121	796,041	$ 589,214	$ 565,007	$ 450,687	$ 3,032,030	2,400,949	$ 2,097,130
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)	69,917	$ 33,954	$ 12,673	$ 10,499	28,601	$ 28,661	$ 26,924	$ 10,763	127,043	94,949	38,363
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures									2,488	1,427	(933)
Impairment of Real Estate					34,200				8,030	37,628	391
Assets:
Total assets	5,015,371				4,757,550				5,015,371	4,757,550
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	71,558				79,441				$ 71,558	79,441
Homebuilding [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment									4
Revenues:
Revenues									$ 3,020,987	2,389,643	2,084,978
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)									115,419	86,403	28,179
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures									(1,804)	741	(2,007)
Assets:
Total assets	5,001,343				4,747,064				$ 5,001,343	4,747,064
Financial services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments | segment									1
Revenues:
Revenues									$ 11,043	11,306	12,152
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)									11,624	8,546	10,184
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures									4,292	686	1,074
Assets:
Total assets	14,028				10,486				14,028	10,486
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	$ 10,440				6,149				$ 10,440	6,149
Home Community Mortgage LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture	49.90%								49.90%
Corporate and Other [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)									$ (92,446)	(71,993)	(69,271)
Assets:
Total assets	$ 1,341,359				1,262,960				1,341,359	1,262,960
Central [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	263,345				201,164				263,345	201,164
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	421,783				363,933				421,783	363,933
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	22,082				22,957				22,082	22,957
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate									0	0	0
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	0				0				0	0
Central [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Revenues									809,738	698,429	565,120
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)									70,959	47,214	22,275
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures									0	0	0
Assets:
Total assets	829,811				678,139				829,811	678,139
West Coast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	535,795				536,843				535,795	536,843
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	788,607				765,577				788,607	765,577
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	277,954				294,060				277,954	294,060
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate									645	27,285	0
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	54,360				59,552				54,360	59,552
West Coast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Revenues									1,402,264	1,089,857	1,020,218
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)									127,946	116,325	118,264
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures									(1,106)	(374)	(148)
Assets:
Total assets	1,740,299				1,695,753				1,740,299	1,695,753
Southeast [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	120,184				124,618				120,184	124,618
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	238,324				245,948				238,324	245,948
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	111,633				124,582				111,633	124,582
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate									4,132	3,951	391
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	2,501				2,501				2,501	2,501
Southeast [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Revenues									410,743	401,853	324,388
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)									(22,758)	(11,158)	(45,992)
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures									(2)	3,291	496
Assets:
Total assets	507,844				531,011				507,844	531,011
Southwest [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Inventory, Homes under Construction	112,032				65,647				112,032	65,647
Inventory, Real Estate, Land and Land Development Costs	317,331				334,691				317,331	334,691
Inventory, Land Held for Development and Sale	104,677				138,367				104,677	138,367
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Impairment of Real Estate									3,253	6,392	0
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures:
Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures	14,697				17,388				14,697	17,388
Southwest [Member] | Homebuilding [Member]
Revenues:
Revenues									398,242	199,504	175,252
Pretax income (loss):
Pretax income (loss)									31,718	6,015	2,903
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures									(696)	(2,176)	(2,355)
Assets:
Total assets	$ 582,030				$ 579,201				$ 582,030	579,201
Nationstar Mortgage LLC [Member] | Home Community Mortgage LLC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Ownership interest in joint venture	50.10%								50.10%
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination									$ 1,561	1,803	3,190
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Central [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination									225	995	0
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | West Coast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination									352	554	3,190
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southeast [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination									984	254	0
Land Option Contract Abandonment [Member] | Southwest [Member]
Equity in income (loss) of unconsolidated joint ventures:
Loss on Contract Termination									$ 0	$ 0	$ 0