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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.

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