Note 6 - Warranty Costs (Details Textual) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Cash Received from Subcontractors for Owner Controlled Insurance Program			$ 3,000	$ 3,100
Payments by Insurance Companies for Claims	$ 500	$ 200	700	3,900
General Liability Insurance Deductible	20,000	20,000	20,000	20,000
Bodily Injury Insurance Deductible	250	250	250	250
Bodily Injury Insurance Limit	5,000	5,000	5,000	5,000
Aggregate Retention for Construction Defects Warranty and Bodily Injury Claims	$ 21,000	$ 21,000	$ 21,000	$ 21,000
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.

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Annual deductible for bodily injury claims.

No definition available.

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The limit on our deductible for bodily injury claims.

No definition available.

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

No definition available.

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

No definition available.

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

No definition available.

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

No definition available.

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