Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Accumulated depreciation, assets held for sale	$ 1,001,342	$ 937,310
Preferred stock, par value	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Preferred stock, shares authorized	20,000,000	20,000,000
Preferred stock, liquidation preference	$ 50	$ 50
Preferred stock, shares issued	868,000	868,000
Preferred stock, shares outstanding	868,000	868,000
Common stock, par value	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common stock, authorized	100,000,000	100,000,000
Common stock, shares issued	54,632,000	54,632,000
Common stock, shares outstanding	54,124,000	54,509,000
Common stock in treasury, shares	594,000	207,000
Post Apartment Homes, L.P. [Member]
Accumulated depreciation, assets held for sale	$ 1,001,342	$ 937,310
Assets Held-for-Sale [Member]
Accumulated depreciation, assets held for sale		207
Assets Held-for-Sale [Member] | Post Apartment Homes, L.P. [Member]
Accumulated depreciation, assets held for sale		$ 207