Inventory - Recoverability Schedule of Inventory assets Held for Development, by Reportable Segment (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 Community	Dec. 31, 2011 Community
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	4	13
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	4	5
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	$ 15,597	$ 19,298
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	114.00%	97.40%
West Segment
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	0	7
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	0	4
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	0	15,543
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV		96.70%
East Segment
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	3	4
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	3	1
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	9,588	1,711
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	107.00%	100.80%
Southeast Segment
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	1	2
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	1	0
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	5,257	0
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	128.60%
Unallocated & Other
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	0	0
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	0	0
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	$ 752	$ 2,044