XML 70 R41.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.6

Inventory And Land Held For Sale Inventory And Land Held For Sale (Fair Value Unobservable Inputs) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012
Minimum [Member]
Fair value inputs, assets, quantitative information [Line Items]
Average selling price ($000s)	$ 198
Sales pace per quarter (units)	4
Discount rate	12.00%
Maximum [Member]
Fair value inputs, assets, quantitative information [Line Items]
Average selling price ($000s)	$ 420
Sales pace per quarter (units)	7
Discount rate	16.00%

X

- Definition

Average selling price of homes sold during period (home closing revenues divided by number of home closings)

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	phm_AverageSellingPrice
Namespace Prefix:	phm_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Discount rate used in discounted cash flow model to determine fair value

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	phm_DiscountRate
Namespace Prefix:	phm_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	phm_FairValueInputsAssetsQuantitativeInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	phm_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Sales pace - number of homes sold per community during period

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	phm_SalesPace
Namespace Prefix:	phm_
Data Type:	xbrli:decimalItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration