Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Organization and Basis of Presentation (Details Textual)

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Organization and Basis of Presentation (Details Textual) (USD $)
9 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended 3 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Region
Communities
State
Dec. 31, 2011
Sep. 30, 2012
Maximum [Member]
Sep. 30, 2012
Maximum [Member]
Sep. 30, 2012
Minimum [Member]
Sep. 30, 2012
Minimum [Member]
Organization and Presentation [Line Items]            
Warranty period following home closings       10 years    
Base price per house for sale range     $ 708,000   $ 106,000  
Investment maturity period       18 months   3 months
Community life cycle range       5 years   3 years
Discount rate used in impairment analysis       16.00%   14.00%
Organization and Basis of Presentation (Textual) [Abstract]            
Entity operations in number of regions 3          
Number of states in regions 7          
Maximum maturity period to classify liquid investments as cash equivalents 3 months          
Money market funds invested in short term government securities 77,800,000          
Amounts in transit from title companies for home closings 43,200,000 13,100,000        
Number of communities to which homes are sold 153          
Restricted cash 15,254,000 12,146,000        
Aggregate capacity of secured letters of credit 40,000,000          
Unrecognized gains or losses other than temporary impairments 0          
Deposits on real estate under option or contract $ 12,983,000 [1] $ 15,208,000        
[1] Amount is reflected in our consolidated balance sheet in the line item “Deposits on real estate under option or contract” as of September 30, 2012.