Note 6 - Warranty Costs (Details Textual) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Cash Received from Subcontractors for Owner Controlled Insurance Program	$ 900	$ 1,000
General Liability Insurance Deductible	20,000		$ 20,000
Bodily Injury Insurance Deductible	250		250
Bodily Injury Insurance Limit	5,000		5,000
Aggregate Retention for Construction Defects Warranty and Bodily Injury Claims	21,000		$ 21,000
Payments by Insurance Companies for Claims	$ 100	$ 3,200
Homebuilding [Member] \| Northeast [Member]
Number of Construction Defect Claims Settled During the Period		2

Aggregate annual retention for construction defect, warranty and bodily injury claims.

No definition available.

Name:	hov_AggregateRetentionForConstructionDefectsWarrantyAndBodilyInjuryClaims
Namespace Prefix:	hov_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

Annual deductible for bodily injury claims.

No definition available.

Name:	hov_BodilyInjuryInsuranceDeductible
Namespace Prefix:	hov_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

The limit on our deductible for bodily injury claims.

No definition available.

Name:	hov_BodilyInjuryInsuranceLimit
Namespace Prefix:	hov_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Amount of cash received from subcontractors for owner controlled insurance program, which we accounted for as a reduction to inventory.

No definition available.

Name:	hov_CashReceivedFromSubcontractorsForOwnerControlledInsuranceProgram
Namespace Prefix:	hov_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

Annual deductible under our general liability insurance per occurrence for construction defects and warranty claims on homes delivered.

No definition available.

Name:	hov_GeneralLiabilityInsuranceDeductible
Namespace Prefix:	hov_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Represents the number of construction defect claims settled during the period.

No definition available.

Name:	hov_NumberOfConstructionDefectClaimsSettledDuringThePeriod
Namespace Prefix:	hov_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

Insurance claims paid by our insurance carriers, excluding insurance deductibles paid.

No definition available.

Name:	hov_PaymentsByInsuranceCompaniesForClaims
Namespace Prefix:	hov_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=hov_HomebuildingMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Name:	us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis=hov_NortheastMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: