| 
           Real Estate and Capitalized Interest (Details) (USD $) 
        In Thousands, unless otherwise specified  | 
        
           Jun. 30, 2014 
         | 
        
           Dec. 31, 2013 
         | 
      ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Estate Properties | ||||||||||
| Finished home sites and home sites under development | $ 890,036 | $ 813,135 | ||||||||
| Land held for development | 51,012 | [1] | 52,100 | [1] | ||||||
| Land held for sale | 28,267 | 19,112 | ||||||||
| Communities in mothball status | 23,859 | [2] | 28,889 | [2] | ||||||
| Real estate | 1,638,028 | 1,405,299 | ||||||||
| 
           Homes under contract [Member] 
         | 
        ||||||||||
| Homes under contract under construction | 370,626 | [3] | 262,633 | [3] | ||||||
| 
           Speculative homes not under contract [Member] 
         | 
        ||||||||||
| Homes under contract under construction | 182,719 | [3] | 147,889 | [3] | ||||||
| 
           Model homes [Member] 
         | 
        ||||||||||
| Homes under contract under construction | $ 91,509 | [3] | $ 81,541 | [3] | ||||||
          
  | 
      ||||||||||