Segment Information (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended										12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014 state		Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2014 segment state		Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments											3
Number of states with active operations	16										16
Revenue
Revenue	$ 545,905,000		$ 354,671,000	$ 270,021,000	$ 293,170,000	$ 438,334,000		$ 314,439,000	$ 287,902,000	$ 246,902,000	$ 1,463,767,000		$ 1,287,577,000		$ 1,005,677,000
Operating income (loss)
Operating income (loss)	23,452,000		15,088,000	5,617,000	11,532,000	22,079,000		8,472,000	311,000	(3,601,000)	55,689,000		27,261,000		(62,058,000)
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization											13,279,000		12,784,000		13,510,000
Capital Expenditures
Capital Expenditures											14,553,000		10,761,000		17,363,000
Assets
Assets	2,066,220,000					1,986,789,000					2,066,220,000		1,986,789,000
Operating Segments
Operating income (loss)
Operating income (loss)											145,423,000		122,784,000		38,885,000
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization											11,244,000		10,467,000		10,556,000
West
Revenue
Revenue											556,741,000		547,636,000		391,648,000
Operating income (loss)
Operating income (loss)											65,442,000		59,084,000		15,147,000
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization											5,722,000		5,305,000		4,980,000
Capital Expenditures
Capital Expenditures											6,660,000		4,835,000		3,031,000
Assets
Assets	756,575,000					680,346,000					756,575,000		680,346,000
East
Revenue
Revenue											552,082,000		483,685,000		402,466,000
Operating income (loss)
Operating income (loss)											48,127,000		40,670,000		9,152,000
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization											3,447,000		3,479,000		3,536,000
Capital Expenditures
Capital Expenditures											3,050,000		1,915,000		3,532,000
Assets
Assets	433,032,000					369,937,000					433,032,000		369,937,000
Southeast
Revenue
Revenue											354,944,000		256,256,000		210,449,000
Operating income (loss)
Operating income (loss)											31,854,000		23,030,000		14,815,000
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization											2,075,000		1,683,000		1,710,000
Capital Expenditures
Capital Expenditures											2,979,000		1,311,000		1,814,000
Assets
Assets	299,215,000					228,814,000					299,215,000		228,814,000
Pre-Owned Segment
Revenue
Revenue											0		0		1,114,000
Operating income (loss)
Operating income (loss)											0		0		(229,000)
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization											0		0		330,000
Capital Expenditures
Capital Expenditures											0	[1]	0	[1]	7,933,000	[1]
Corporate and unallocated
Operating income (loss)
Operating income (loss)											(89,734,000)	[2]	(95,523,000)	[2]	(100,943,000)	[2]
Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization											2,035,000	[2]	2,317,000	[2]	2,954,000	[2]
Capital Expenditures
Capital Expenditures											1,864,000		2,700,000		1,053,000
Assets
Assets	577,398,000	[3]				707,692,000	[3]				577,398,000	[3]	707,692,000	[3]
Recovery related to warranty and legal expenditures															$ 11,000,000

[1] Capital expenditures represent the purchase of previously owned homes through May 2, 2012.

[2] Corporate and unallocated includes amortization of capitalized interest and numerous shared services functions that benefit all segments, the costs of which are not allocated to the operating segments reported above including information technology, treasury, corporate finance, legal, branding and other national marketing costs. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012, corporate and unallocated also includes an $11 million recovery related to old water intrusion warranty and related legal expenditures.

[3] Primarily consists of cash and cash equivalents, consolidated inventory not owned, deferred taxes, capitalized interest and other items that are not allocated to the segments.