Inventory - Recoverability Schedule of Inventory assets Held for Development, by Reportable Segment (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 Communities	Sep. 30, 2011 Communities	Sep. 30, 2010 Communities
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	31	30	43
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	19	23	40
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	$ 72,959	$ 96,008	$ 161,929
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	96.70%	87.40%	87.70%
Unallocated
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	0	1	0
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	0	0	0
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	5,193	9,707	13,728
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Continuing Operations | West
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	14	18	20
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	8	15	20
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	28,467	58,848	80,270
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	94.70%	88.40%	90.80%
Continuing Operations | East
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	12	7	12
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	8	5	10
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	30,052	16,436	43,655
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	91.80%	94.60%	79.70%
Continuing Operations | Southeast
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	5	4	6
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	3	3	5
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	9,247	11,017	16,394
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	116.50%	60.30%	80.80%
Discontinued Operations
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List			5
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities			5
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)			$ 7,882
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV			93.80%