Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Real Estate and Capitalized Interest (Details)

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Real Estate and Capitalized Interest (Details) (USD $)
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Mar. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Real Estate Properties    
Finished home sites and home sites under development $ 874,760 $ 813,135
Land held for development 50,811 [1] 52,100 [1]
Land held for sale 24,548 19,112
Communities in mothball status 23,786 [2] 28,889 [2]
Real estate 1,538,218 1,405,299
Homes under contract [Member]
    
Homes under contract under construction 313,527 [3] 262,633 [3]
Speculative homes not under contract [Member]
    
Homes under contract under construction 165,813 [3] 147,889 [3]
Model homes [Member]
    
Homes under contract under construction $ 84,973 [3] $ 81,541 [3]
[1] Land held for development primarily reflects land and land development costs related to land where development activity is not currently underway but is expected to begin in the future. For these parcels, we may have chosen not to currently develop certain land holdings as they typically represent a portion of a larger land parcel that we plan to build out over several years.
[2] Represents communities where we have decided to cease operations (mothball) as we have determined that their economic performance would be maximized by deferring development. In the future, some of these communities may be re-opened while others may be sold to third parties. If we deem our carrying value to not be fully recoverable, we adjust our carrying value for these assets to fair value at the time they are placed into mothball status. As of March 31, 2014, we had four mothballed communities with a carrying value of $21.0 million in our West Region and one mothballed community with a carrying value of $2.8 million in our Central Region. We do not capitalize interest for such mothballed assets, and all ongoing costs of land ownership (i.e. property taxes, homeowner association dues, etc.) are also expensed as incurred.
[3] Includes the allocated land and land development costs associated with each lot for these homes.