Inventory - Recoverability Schedule of Inventory assets Held for Development, by Reportable Segment (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 Community	Dec. 31, 2012 Community
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	1	4
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	0	4
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	$ 0	$ 15,597
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV		114.00%
West Segment
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	1	0
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	0	0
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	0	0
East Segment
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	0	3
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	0	3
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	0	9,588
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV		107.00%
Southeast Segment
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	0	1
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Number of Communities	0	1
Undiscounted Cash Flow Analysis - Pre-analysis Book Value (BV)	0	5,257
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)	$ 0	$ 752