Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Statements of Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ 144,479	$ 107,376	$ 52,026
Cash flows from investing activities:
Sale of investment securities	270,576	154,615	117,021
Maturities of investment securities	5,491	930	27
Purchase of investment securities	(214,146)	(305,731)	(170,463)
Proceeds from sale or liquidation of long-term investments	1,303	2,416	10,927
Purchase of long-term investments	(10,000)	(12,000)	(5,501)
Investments in real estate ventures	(70,272)	(40,916)	(75,731)
Distributions from investments in real estate ventures	17,563	7,309	3,142
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies	(1,742)	(484)	(628)
Decrease (increase) in non-current restricted assets	(6,889)	(872)	1,081
Issuance of notes receivable	(4,410)	(8,250)	(8,600)
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets	4	4	48
Cash acquired in Douglas Elliman consolidation	0	0	116,935
Purchase of subsidiaries	0	(750)	(67,616)
Repayment of notes receivable	4,000	4,850	0
Capital expenditures	(10,977)	(23,404)	(13,275)
Purchase of preferred securities	0	(1,000)	0
Proceeds from sale of preferred securities	1,000	0	0
Investments in real estate held for sale	(12,603)	0	0
Pay down of investment securities	8,739	1,849	681
Net cash used in investing activities	(22,363)	(221,434)	(91,952)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of debt	2,105	413,914	457,767
Deferred financing charges	(624)	(12,360)	(11,750)
Repayments of debt	(6,684)	(12,601)	(422,581)
Borrowings under revolver	153,361	886,130	978,788
Repayments on revolver	(167,915)	(898,788)	(977,794)
Capital contributions received	0	0	0
Intercompany dividends paid	0	0	0
Dividends and distributions on common stock	(188,151)	(167,328)	(144,711)
Distributions to non-controlling interest	(3,280)	(9,339)	(11,764)
Contributions from non-controlling interest	813	0	0
Proceeds from exercise of Vector options	1,441	5,151	544
Tax benefit of options exercised	821	1,178	38
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(208,113)	205,957	(131,463)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(85,997)	91,899	(171,389)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	326,365	234,466	405,855
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	240,368	326,365	234,466
Parent/Issuer [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	136,370	61,779	71,730
Cash flows from investing activities:
Sale of investment securities	256,161	154,615	110,419
Maturities of investment securities	5,491	930	27
Purchase of investment securities	(207,822)	(299,417)	(159,463)
Proceeds from sale or liquidation of long-term investments	1,106	2,367	10,847
Purchase of long-term investments	(10,000)	(12,000)	(5,000)
Investments in real estate ventures	0	0	0
Distributions from investments in real estate ventures	0	0	0
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies	(1,257)	0	(144)
Decrease (increase) in non-current restricted assets	(6)	188	3
Issuance of notes receivable	0	(35,000)	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(103,174)	(85,278)	(155,961)
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets	0	0	35
Cash acquired in Douglas Elliman consolidation			0
Purchase of subsidiaries		0	0
Repayment of notes receivable	0	35,000
Capital expenditures	0	(15)	(2,297)
Purchase of preferred securities		0
Proceeds from sale of preferred securities	0
Investments in real estate held for sale	0
Pay down of investment securities	8,739	1,849	681
Net cash used in investing activities	(50,762)	(236,761)	(200,853)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of debt	0	408,750	450,000
Deferred financing charges	0	(12,360)	(11,750)
Repayments of debt	0	0	(415,000)
Borrowings under revolver	0	0	0
Repayments on revolver	0	0	0
Capital contributions received	0	0	0
Intercompany dividends paid	0	0	0
Dividends and distributions on common stock	(188,151)	(167,328)	(144,711)
Distributions to non-controlling interest	0	0	0
Contributions from non-controlling interest	0
Proceeds from exercise of Vector options	1,441	5,151	544
Tax benefit of options exercised	821	1,178	38
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(185,889)	235,391	(120,879)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(100,281)	60,409	(250,002)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	211,751	151,342	401,344
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	111,470	211,751	151,342
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	172,065	83,671	115,829
Cash flows from investing activities:
Sale of investment securities	14,415	0	6,602
Maturities of investment securities	0	0	0
Purchase of investment securities	(6,324)	(6,314)	(11,000)
Proceeds from sale or liquidation of long-term investments	0	0	0
Purchase of long-term investments	0	0	(501)
Investments in real estate ventures	0	0	0
Distributions from investments in real estate ventures	0	0	0
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies	(485)	(484)	(484)
Decrease (increase) in non-current restricted assets	(6,883)	(371)	1,078
Issuance of notes receivable	0	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets	4	4	13
Cash acquired in Douglas Elliman consolidation			0
Purchase of subsidiaries		0	0
Repayment of notes receivable	0	0
Capital expenditures	(3,730)	(16,466)	(9,784)
Purchase of preferred securities		0
Proceeds from sale of preferred securities	0
Investments in real estate held for sale	0
Pay down of investment securities	0	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(3,003)	(23,631)	(14,076)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of debt	1,799	40,164	4,687
Deferred financing charges	(624)	0	0
Repayments of debt	(6,362)	(43,724)	(7,466)
Borrowings under revolver	153,361	886,130	978,788
Repayments on revolver	(167,915)	(898,788)	(977,794)
Capital contributions received	33,658	15,270	13,950
Intercompany dividends paid	(181,825)	(61,180)	(105,882)
Dividends and distributions on common stock	0	0	0
Distributions to non-controlling interest	0	0	0
Contributions from non-controlling interest	0
Proceeds from exercise of Vector options	0	0	0
Tax benefit of options exercised	1,497	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(166,411)	(62,128)	(93,717)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	2,651	(2,088)	8,036
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	9,724	11,812	3,776
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	12,375	9,724	11,812
Subsidiary Non-Guarantors [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	45,715	62,656	(16,239)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Sale of investment securities	0	0	0
Maturities of investment securities	0	0	0
Purchase of investment securities	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale or liquidation of long-term investments	197	49	80
Purchase of long-term investments	0	0	0
Investments in real estate ventures	(70,272)	(40,916)	(75,731)
Distributions from investments in real estate ventures	17,563	7,309	3,142
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies	0	0	0
Decrease (increase) in non-current restricted assets	0	(689)	0
Issuance of notes receivable	(4,410)	(8,250)	(8,600)
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets	0	0	0
Cash acquired in Douglas Elliman consolidation			116,935
Purchase of subsidiaries		(750)	(67,616)
Repayment of notes receivable	4,000	4,850
Capital expenditures	(7,247)	(6,923)	(1,194)
Purchase of preferred securities		(1,000)
Proceeds from sale of preferred securities	1,000
Investments in real estate held for sale	(12,603)
Pay down of investment securities	0	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(71,772)	(46,320)	(32,984)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of debt	306	0	3,080
Deferred financing charges	0	0	0
Repayments of debt	(322)	(3,877)	(115)
Borrowings under revolver	0	0	0
Repayments on revolver	0	0	0
Capital contributions received	69,516	70,008	142,011
Intercompany dividends paid	(29,343)	(39,550)	(13,412)
Dividends and distributions on common stock	0	0	0
Distributions to non-controlling interest	(3,280)	(9,339)	(11,764)
Contributions from non-controlling interest	813
Proceeds from exercise of Vector options	0	0	0
Tax benefit of options exercised	0	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	37,690	17,242	119,800
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	11,633	33,578	70,577
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	104,890	71,312	735
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	116,523	104,890	71,312
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(209,671)	(100,730)	(119,294)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Sale of investment securities	0	0	0
Maturities of investment securities	0	0	0
Purchase of investment securities	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale or liquidation of long-term investments	0	0	0
Purchase of long-term investments	0	0	0
Investments in real estate ventures	0	0	0
Distributions from investments in real estate ventures	0	0	0
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance policies	0	0	0
Decrease (increase) in non-current restricted assets	0	0	0
Issuance of notes receivable	0	35,000	0
Investments in subsidiaries	103,174	85,278	155,961
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets	0	0	0
Cash acquired in Douglas Elliman consolidation			0
Purchase of subsidiaries		0	0
Repayment of notes receivable	0	(35,000)
Capital expenditures	0	0	0
Purchase of preferred securities		0
Proceeds from sale of preferred securities	0
Investments in real estate held for sale	0
Pay down of investment securities	0	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	103,174	85,278	155,961
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of debt	0	(35,000)	0
Deferred financing charges	0	0	0
Repayments of debt	0	35,000	0
Borrowings under revolver	0	0	0
Repayments on revolver	0	0	0
Capital contributions received	(103,174)	(85,278)	(155,961)
Intercompany dividends paid	211,168	100,730	119,294
Dividends and distributions on common stock	0	0	0
Distributions to non-controlling interest	0	0	0
Contributions from non-controlling interest	0
Proceeds from exercise of Vector options	0	0	0
Tax benefit of options exercised	(1,497)	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	106,497	15,452	(36,667)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	0	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0