Discontinued operations (Details Narrative) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2014	Apr. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2014	Apr. 30, 2013	Jan. 31, 2014 Heights Manor Apartments (Member)	Oct. 31, 2012 Heights Manor Apartments (Member)	Apr. 30, 2013 Palisades Manor Apartments (Member)	Apr. 30, 2014 South Brunswick property (Member)	Oct. 31, 2013 Grandview Apartments (Member)	Oct. 31, 2012 Federal (Member)	Oct. 31, 2012 State (Member)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Status of disposal						On August 29, 2012, FREIT sold its Heights Manor Apartments in Spring Lake Heights, NJ.	On April 26, 2013, FREIT sold its Palisades Manor Apartments in Palisades Park, New Jersey.	On December 20, 2013, FREIT's South Brunswick property, which consisted of vacant land, was sold.	On August 13, 2013, FREIT sold its Grandview Apartments in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey.
Sale of property							$ 1,600	$ 11,000	$ 2,500
Capital gain on sale of apartments						9,500	1,400	8,700	2,200
Distributions to shareholders					1,400	5,000
Income taxes on undistributed gains										1,500	400
Income tax adjustment on gain on sale of discontinued operation				(720)	(720)
Revenue from discontinued operations	$ 0	$ 116	$ 0	$ 229