Financial Highlights (Narrative) (Details)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Financial Highlights [Abstract]
Market based total return	11.92%	(7.01%)	30.06%	1.86%

Total return for the period based upon the closing prices as reported by the New York Stock Exchange.

No definition available.

Name:	efc_MarketBasedTotalReturn
Namespace Prefix:	efc_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration