XML 34 R23.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.4.0.3

REAL ESTATE AND CAPITALIZED INTEREST (Tables) | 3 Months Ended
--- | ---
Mar. 31, 2016
Inventory Disclosure [Abstract] |
Schedule of Real Estate | NOTE 2 — REAL ESTATE AND CAPITALIZED INTEREST Real estate consists of the following (in thousands):
|  | As of
|  | March 31, 2016 |  | December 31, 2015
Homes under contract under construction (1) |  | $ | 580,194 |  |  | $ | 456,138 |
Unsold homes, completed and under construction (1) |  | 269,353 |  |  | 307,425 |
Model homes (1) |  | 138,109 |  |  | 138,546 |
Finished home sites and home sites under development (2) |  | 1,231,513 |  |  | 1,196,193 |
Total |  | $ | 2,219,169 |  |  | $ | 2,098,302 |
(1) | Includes the allocated land and land development costs associated with each lot for these homes.
(2) | Includes raw land, land held for development and land held for sale. 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 or phases of a larger land parcel that we plan to build out over several years. We do not capitalize interest for inactive assets, and all ongoing costs of land ownership (i.e. property taxes, homeowner ass
Summary of Capitalized Interest | A summary of our capitalized interest is as follows (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended March 31,
| 2016 |  | 2015
Capitalized interest, beginning of period | $ | 61,202 |  |  | $ | 54,060 |
Interest incurred | 17,559 |  |  | 15,282 |
Interest expensed | (3,288 | ) |  | (3,154 | )
Interest amortized to cost of home and land closings | (11,347 | ) |  | (9,345 | )
Capitalized interest, end of period (1) | $ | 64,126 |  |  | $ | 56,843 |
(1) | Approximately $445,000 of the capitalized interest is related to our joint venture investments and is a component of Investments in unconsolidated entities in our consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015

X
- Definition The tabular disclosure for the carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of interest costs that were capitalized to properties under development during the land development and construction period of a project, and which are included in inventory, the amortization of such capitalized interest and the interest expenses associated with non-qualified assets. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | mth_RealEstateInventoryCapitalizedInterestCostsTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | mth_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_InventoryDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Tabular disclosure of the carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of merchandise, goods, commodities, or supplies held for future sale or to be used in manufacturing, servicing or production process. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(6)(b)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(6)(a)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6361739&loc=d3e7789-107766 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(6)(c)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_ScheduleOfInventoryCurrentTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration