Inventory - Results of Discounted Cash Flow Analysis (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 Communities lots	Jun. 30, 2011 Communities lots	Jun. 30, 2012 Communities lots	Jun. 30, 2011 Communities lots
Real Estate, Write-down or Reserve [Line Items]
Number of communities impaired	3	6	5	11
Number of lots impaired	170	370	246	1,048
Impairment Charges	$ 5,773	$ 6,296	$ 8,924	$ 24,455
Estimated fair value of impaired inventory	11,187	11,672	20,857	39,373
Continuing Operations
Real Estate, Write-down or Reserve [Line Items]
Number of communities impaired	3	6	5	11
Number of lots impaired	170	370	246	1,048
Impairment Charges	5,731	6,296	8,864	24,240
Estimated fair value of impaired inventory	11,187	11,672	20,857	39,373
Continuing Operations | West Segment
Real Estate, Write-down or Reserve [Line Items]
Number of communities impaired	1	4	2	9
Number of lots impaired	65	153	116	831
Impairment Charges	1,590	1,571	3,788	17,556
Estimated fair value of impaired inventory	4,680	4,223	11,058	31,924
Continuing Operations | East Segment
Real Estate, Write-down or Reserve [Line Items]
Number of communities impaired	1	1	2	1
Number of lots impaired	68	41	93	41
Impairment Charges	3,122	759	3,809	988
Estimated fair value of impaired inventory	4,050	5,637	7,342	5,637
Continuing Operations | Southeast Segment
Real Estate, Write-down or Reserve [Line Items]
Number of communities impaired	1	1	1	1
Number of lots impaired	37	176	37	176
Impairment Charges	630	3,435	794	3,557
Estimated fair value of impaired inventory	2,457	1,812	2,457	1,812
Continuing Operations | Unallocated
Real Estate, Write-down or Reserve [Line Items]
Number of communities impaired	0	0	0	0
Number of lots impaired	0	0	0	0
Impairment Charges	389	531	473	2,139
Estimated fair value of impaired inventory	0	0	0	0
Discontinued Operations
Real Estate, Write-down or Reserve [Line Items]
Number of communities impaired	0	0	0	0
Number of lots impaired	0	0	0	0
Impairment Charges	42	0	60	215
Estimated fair value of impaired inventory	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0