Financial Highlights (Narrative) (Details)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012
Financial Highlights [Abstract]
Market based total return	16.90%	16.21%

Total return for the period based upon the closing prices as reported by the New York Stock Exchange. Calculation of market based total return assumes the reinvestment of dividends at the closing price as reported by the New York Stock Exchange as of the ex-date.

No definition available.

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