Other Significant Transactions (Details Textual)	Mar. 31, 2014 Property
Sale of Asset Managed Portfolio [Abstract]
Number of partnerships in legally sold portfolio	17
Number of consolidated apartment communities in legally sold portfolio	14
Number of unconsolidated apartment communities in legally sold portfolio	60

Number of unconsolidated properties in legally sold portfolio

No definition available.

Name:	aiv_NumberOfUnconsolidatedPropertiesInLegallySoldPortfolio
Namespace Prefix:	aiv_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant