Selected quarterly financial data (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2015		Jul. 31, 2015	Apr. 30, 2015	Jan. 31, 2015	Oct. 31, 2014		Jul. 31, 2014		Apr. 30, 2014	Jan. 31, 2014		Oct. 31, 2015	Oct. 31, 2014	Oct. 31, 2013
Selected quarterly financial data (unaudited) [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 11,108		$ 11,143	$ 11,252	$ 11,280	$ 10,793	[1]	$ 10,433		$ 10,632	$ 10,572		$ 44,783	$ 42,430
Expenses	11,027	[2]	10,086	10,791	9,967	10,095	[3]	9,716	[4]	9,742	9,454		41,871	39,007
Income from continuing operations	$ 81		$ 1,057	$ 461	$ 1,313	$ 698		$ 717		890	1,118		$ 2,912	3,423	$ 3,600
Income from discontinued operations										41	8,700	[5]		8,741
Net income	$ 81		$ 1,057	$ 461	$ 1,313	$ 698		$ 717		931	9,818		$ 2,912	12,164	7,942
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries	2		(89)	71	(265)	(54)		(162)		(98)	(193)		(281)	(507)	(493)
Net income attributable to common equity	$ 83		$ 968	$ 532	$ 1,048	$ 644		$ 555		$ 833	$ 9,625		$ 2,631	$ 11,657	$ 7,449
Basic & diluted earnings per share:
Continuing operations	$ 0.02	[2]	$ 0.14	$ 0.08	$ 0.15	$ 0.10	[1]	$ 0.08	[4]	$ 0.11	$ 0.13		$ 0.39	$ 0.42	$ 0.45
Discontinued operations										0.01	1.26	[5]		1.27	0.62
Net income attributable to common equity	$ 0.02		$ 0.14	$ 0.08	$ 0.15	$ 0.10		$ 0.08		0.12	1.39		$ 0.39	1.69	1.07
Dividends declared per share	0.30		$ 0.30	$ 0.30	$ 0.30	$ 0.30		$ 0.30		$ 0.30	$ 0.30		$ 1.20	$ 1.20	$ 1.56
Straight line rent adjustment - bankrupt tenant													$ 1,046
Income tax adjustment on gain on sale of discontinued operation															$ (720)	[6]
Gain on sale of discontinued operations														$ 8,734	$ 3,545
Expenses related to Regency acquisition			$ 648											648
Expenses related to Regency acquisition, per share			$ 0.09
Deferred rents - straight lining						$ 298							$ 219	93	$ 12
Straight line rent expense per share	$ 0.15					$ 0.01
G-Mart lease termination expenses						$ 73								$ (371)
G-Mart lease termination expenses, per share						$ 0.04

[1] Includes $298 in straight-line rent expense related to G-Mart lease termination ($0.04 per share)

[2] Includes $1.1M straight line rent adjustment for bankrupt tenant ($0.15 per share)

[3] Includes $73 in expenses related to G-Mart lease termination ($0.01 per share)

[4] Includes $648 in expenses related to Regency acquisition ($0.09 per share)

[5] Represents gain on sale of discontinued operation of approximately $8.7 million

[6] Income tax adjustment relating to fiscal 2012 gain on sale of discontinued operation.