Inventory - Recoverability Schedule of Inventory assets Held for Development, by Reportable Segment (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($) Community	Sep. 30, 2013 USD ($) Community
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	8	5
Number of Communities	4	5
Pre-analysis Book Value (BV) | $	$ 35,228	$ 27,680
Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	97.80%	114.90%
West
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	5	1
Number of Communities	3	1
Pre-analysis Book Value (BV) | $	$ 25,191	$ 11,080
Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	90.90%	117.60%
East
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	1	3
Number of Communities	0	3
Pre-analysis Book Value (BV) | $	$ 0	$ 9,588
Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	0.00%	107.00%
Southeast
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	2	1
Number of Communities	1	1
Pre-analysis Book Value (BV) | $	$ 7,479	$ 5,257
Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	120.20%	128.60%
Corporate and unallocated
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Number of Communities on Watch List	0	0
Number of Communities	0	0
Pre-analysis Book Value (BV) | $	$ 2,558	$ 1,755
Aggregate Undiscounted Cash Flow as a % of BV	100.00%	100.00%