Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Statement of Operations [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 468,923	$ 363,457	$ 322,856	$ 263,159	$ 367,964	$ 330,767	$ 281,608	$ 234,841	$ 1,418,395	$ 1,215,180	$ 1,036,782
Land and housing									1,114,663	958,991	824,508
Impairment of inventory and investment in unconsolidated joint ventures									3,638	3,457	5,805
General and administrative									93,208	88,830	79,494
Selling									95,092	81,148	68,282
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures									(498)	(347)	(306)
Interest									17,521	13,365	15,938
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									7,842	0	1,726
Total costs and expenses									1,331,466	1,145,444	995,447
Income before income taxes									86,929	69,736	41,335
Provision (benefit) from income taxes									35,166	18,947	(110,088)
Net income									51,763	50,789	151,423
Preferred dividends									4,875	4,875	3,656
Excess of fair value over book value of preferred shares redeemed									0	0	2,190
Net Income Available to Common Stockholders	$ 12,056	$ 14,352	$ 12,131	$ 8,349	$ 9,767	$ 12,399	$ 12,335	$ 11,413	$ 46,888	$ 45,914	$ 145,577
Earnings per common share:
Basic	$ 0.49	$ 0.58	$ 0.49	$ 0.34	$ 0.40	$ 0.51	$ 0.50	$ 0.47	$ 1.91	$ 1.88	$ 6.11
Diluted	$ 0.43	$ 0.51	$ 0.43	$ 0.31	$ 0.36	$ 0.44	$ 0.44	$ 0.41	$ 1.68	$ 1.65	$ 5.24
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic	24,649	24,605	24,531	24,514	24,489	24,474	24,470	24,417	24,575	24,463	23,822
Diluted	30,107	30,067	30,023	29,975	29,944	29,921	29,913	29,870	30,047	29,912	28,763