Significant Transactions, Dispositions of Apartment Communities and Assets Held for Sale (Details Textual) $ / shares in Units, ft² in Thousands, $ in Thousands, shares in Millions	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) Units Property shares	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) Units Property	May 01, 2018 ft² Units Property $ / shares	Apr. 16, 2018 USD ($) ft² Units Property	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest in Limited Partnerships		$ (2,984)	$ (2,984)			$ (1,716)
Assets		6,544,356	6,544,356			6,079,040
Liabilities		$ 4,788,239	$ 4,788,239			$ 4,321,750
Wholly And Partially Owned Consolidated Properties [Member] | Assets Held-for-sale [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of apartment homes in apartment communities | Units		821	821
Number of apartment communities | Property		1	1
Bent Tree Apartments - Fairfax County, Virginia [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total fair value allocated to land		$ 47,000	$ 47,000
Total fair value allocated to building and improvements		113,000	113,000
Total fair value allocated to other items		$ 1,000	1,000
Payments to acquire and develop real estate			$ 160,000
Number of apartment homes in apartment communities | Units		748	748
Capitalized asset acquisition costs			$ 1,000
2018 Philadelphia Acquisition Portfolio [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total fair value allocated to land		$ 14,100	14,100
Total fair value allocated to building and improvements		282,500	282,500
Asset Acquisition Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed Intangible Assets		6,300	6,300
Asset Acquisition Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired And Liabilities Assumed Intangible Liabilities		3,100	3,100
Number of apartment homes in apartment communities | Units				665	1,006
Area of office and retail space acquired (in square feet) | ft²				153	185
Asset Acquisition Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed Non-Recourse Property Debt		$ 208,900	208,900
Common units issued during period | shares		1.2
Asset Acquisition, Share Price | $ / shares				$ 41.08
Capitalized asset acquisition costs			6,400
Number of apartment communities | Property				4	6
Stated purchase price of real estate acquired					$ 445,000
One Ardmore Place - Philadelphia [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of apartment homes in apartment communities | Units					110
La Jolla Cove [Member] | Wholly And Partially Owned Consolidated Properties [Member] | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Notional value of seller financing provided		$ 48,600	48,600
Net cash proceeds from the sale of real estate with seller financing provided			$ 5,000
Aimco Real Estate [Member] | Wholly And Partially Owned Consolidated Properties [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of apartment homes in apartment communities | Units		37,755	37,755
Number of apartment communities | Property		134	134
Aimco Real Estate [Member] | Wholly And Partially Owned Consolidated Properties [Member] | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of apartment homes in apartment communities | Units		513	513
Net proceeds to Aimco from the sale of real estate			$ 64,600
Gain on dispositions of real estate			50,600
Gross proceeds from sale of real estate			$ 71,900
Number of apartment communities | Property		3	3
Asset Management [Member] | Wholly And Partially Owned Consolidated Properties [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Number of apartment homes in apartment communities | Units		6,211	6,211
Number of apartment communities | Property		39	39
Subsequent Event [Member] | Aimco Real Estate [Member] | Wholly And Partially Owned Consolidated Properties [Member] | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net proceeds to Aimco from the sale of real estate	$ 165,500
Gross proceeds from sale of real estate	170,400
Asset Management [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member] | Wholly And Partially Owned Consolidated Properties [Member] | Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net proceeds to Aimco from the sale of real estate	512,000
Gross proceeds from sale of real estate	$ 590,000