Secured and unsecured senior debt Unsecured senior notes payable (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Debt Instrument
Outstanding Balance		$ 4,828,766
Proceeds from issuance of unsecured senior notes payable		424,384	$ 348,604
3.95% Unsecured Senior Notes Payable Due in 2028
Debt Instrument
Outstanding Balance	$ 425,000	$ 425,000
Maturity Date	Jan. 15, 2028	Jan. 15, 2028
Stated interest rate (as a percent)	3.95%	3.95%
Debt Instrument, Issuance Price as Percentage of Principal Amount	99.855%
Debt Instrument, Yield Rate	3.967%
Proceeds from issuance of unsecured senior notes payable	$ 420,500

Debt Instrument, Issuance Price as Percentage of Principal Amount

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- Definition

Debt Instrument, Yield Rate

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Amount, before unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs, of long-term debt. Includes, but is not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, commercial loans, mortgage loans, convertible debt, subordinated debt and other types of debt.

+ 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(22))
-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 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03(16))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

+ Details

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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash inflow from a borrowing with the highest claim on the assets of the entity in case of bankruptcy or liquidation (with maturities initially due after one year or beyond the operating cycle, if longer).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Financing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6513228

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 14
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3255-108585

+ Details

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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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