Transactions With Related Parties (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Indirect Ownership Interest Percentage	1.00%eqr_IndirectOwnershipInterestPercentage
Amount Incurred For leased office space	$ 2.5	$ 1.7	$ 1.3

Expenses recognized resulting from transactions (excluding transactions that are eliminated in consolidated or combined financial statements) with related party.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 850

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (c)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionExpensesFromTransactionsWithRelatedParty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration