Real Estate Owned (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($) property
Number of Properties
Beginning Balance (1/1/2019) | property	20
Transfers from mortgage loans | property	2
Disposals | property	(1)
Ending Balance (3/31/2019) | property	21
Carrying Value
Beginning Balance (1/1/2019)	$ 30,778
Transfers from mortgage loans	299
Capital expenditures and other adjustments to cost	240
Adjustments to record at the lower of cost or fair value	(250)
Disposals	(64)
Ending Balance (3/31/2019)	31,003	[1]
Realized gains (losses) on real estate owned, net	(58)
REO, fair value	$ 24,100

[1] Ellington Financial Inc.'s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet includes assets and liabilities of variable interest entities it has consolidated. See Note 9 for additional details on Ellington Financial Inc.'s consolidated variable interest entities.