Debt - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	6 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		6 Months Ended																		1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 20, 2010 AMH Credit Agreement [Member]	Apr. 20, 2007 AMH Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMH Credit Agreement [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMH Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Apollo Principal Holdings II, L.P. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Apollo Principal Holdings II, L.P. [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Apollo Principal Holdings IV, L.P. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Apollo Principal Holdings IV, L.P. [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Apollo Principal Holdings V, L.P. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Apollo Principal Holdings V, L.P. [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Apollo Principal Holdings IX, L.P. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Apollo Principal Holdings IX, L.P. [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Non-Controlling Interests in Apollo Operating Group [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Non-Controlling Interests in Apollo Operating Group [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] First Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] First Loans [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Second Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Second Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2015 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Dec. 31, 2014 AMH Credit Agreement [Member] Scenario, Forecast [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 CIT Secured Loan Agreements [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 CIT Secured Loan Agreements [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 CIT Secured Loan Agreements [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 CIT Secured Loan Agreements [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest payable under credit agreement	$ 728,273,000		$ 737,818,000		$ 1,000,000,000	$ 728,273,000	$ 728,273,000											$ 995,000,000	$ 995,000,000	$ 5,000,000	$ 5,000,000						$ 9,545,000
Interest payable under credit agreement period						7 years
Credit agreement						Three-month LIBOR
AMH three months LIBOR for debt						167,000,000
Debt closing date						5 years
AMH Credit Agreement expires					May 2012	April 2014
Interest rate of the Eurodollar loan																		3.75%	3.75%	1.25%	1.00%
Federal Funds Rate						0.50%
Eurodollar Rate plus						1.00%
Eurodollar Rate plus under Federal Funds						One-month Eurodollar Rate plus
Fair value debt repurchased				90,900,000		995,000,000
Estimated fair value of long debt obligation				995,000,000		770,400,000
Percentage of loan				20.00%
Repurchase of term loan				180,800,000																		100,000,000	50,000,000
Interest rate changed to LIBOR plus				4.25%
Interest rate changed to ABR plus				3.25%
AMH Credit Agreement remaining balance				728,300,000		728,300,000
Interest rate face amount						723,300,000
Interest on AMH Credit agreement remaining balance						3.99%
Portion of loan						5,000,000
Interest rate on remaining portion of loan						1.24%
Consolidated net assets (deficit)								156,600,000	94,900,000	111,400,000	91,100,000	48,100,000	62,300,000	195,600,000	217,500,000	(736,900,000)	(858,900,000)
Leverage Ratio						0.25
Excess Sweep Leverage Ratio for 2013						4.00
Excess Sweep Leverage Ratio for 2014						3.75
Excess Sweep Leverage Ratio for 2015						3.50
Excess Sweep Leverage Ratio for thereafter						3.50
Reduction of Leverage Ratio	0.25
Deposit of Excess Cash Flow	50.00%
Leverage Ratio of non ordinary asset for 2013	3.50
Leverage Ratio of non ordinary asset for 2014	3.25
Leverage Ratio of non ordinary asset for 2015 and for all other years thereafter	3.00
Repayment of debt	1,420,175,000	246,134,000																						9,438,000
Interest expense incurred																									$ 100,000	$ 200,000