CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Total revenue	$ 1,916,278	$ 1,822,114	$ 1,627,413
Home construction and land sales expenses	1,600,969	1,509,625	1,351,860
Inventory impairments and abandonments	2,445	15,282	3,109
Gross profit	312,864	297,207	272,444
Commissions	74,811	70,460	65,023
General and administrative expenses	161,906	153,628	142,496
Depreciation and amortization	14,009	13,794	13,338
Operating income	62,138	59,325	51,587
Equity in income of unconsolidated entities	371	131	536
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(12,630)	(13,423)	(80)
Other expense, net	(15,230)	(24,330)	(30,013)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	34,649	21,703	22,030
Expense (benefit) from income taxes	2,696	16,498	(324,569)
Income from continuing operations	31,953	5,205	346,599
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	(140)	(512)	(2,505)
Net income	$ 31,813	$ 4,693	$ 344,094
Weighted average number of shares:
Basic (in shares)	31,952	31,798	27,628
Diluted (in shares)	32,426	31,803	31,772
Basic income (loss) per share:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 1.00	$ 0.16	$ 12.54
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0.00	(0.01)	(0.09)
Total (in dollars per share)	1.00	0.15	12.45
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	0.99	0.16	10.91
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0.00	(0.01)	(0.08)
Total (in dollars per share)	$ 0.99	$ 0.15	$ 10.83
Net income	$ 31,813	$ 4,693	$ 344,094
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of income tax:
Change in unrealized loss related to available-for-sale securities	0	0	1,276
Total Comprehensive Income	$ 31,813	$ 4,693	$ 345,370