Impacts of Adopting New Revenue Recognition - Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue	$ 50,841	$ 54,866	$ 54,277	$ 52,642	$ 48,510	$ 49,071	$ 48,727	$ 47,406	$ 212,626	$ 193,714	$ 175,642
Selling, operating and administrative expenses									120,179	106,946	88,037
Provision for income taxes	7,370	3,420	3,147	1,862	46,262	3,021	4,735	3,030	15,799	57,047	15,167
Net income	11,066	15,541	14,591	9,167	(403)	7,290	15,539	9,388	50,365	31,815	46,848
Net income: Non-controlling interest	4,792	7,402	6,943	4,184	5,074	3,573	8,081	4,848	23,321	21,577	24,627
Net income attributable to RE/MAX Holdings, Inc.	$ 6,274	$ 8,139	$ 7,648	$ 4,983	$ (5,477)	$ 3,717	$ 7,458	$ 4,540	$ 27,044	$ 10,238	$ 22,221
U.S. statutory tax rate									21.00%	35.00%	35.00%
Net income attributable to RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. per share of Class A common stock
Basic	$ 0.35	$ 0.46	$ 0.43	$ 0.28	$ (0.31)	$ 0.21	$ 0.42	$ 0.26	$ 1.52	$ 0.58	$ 1.26
Diluted	$ 0.35	$ 0.46	$ 0.43	$ 0.28	$ (0.31)	$ 0.21	$ 0.42	$ 0.26	$ 1.52	$ 0.58	$ 1.26
ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
U.S. statutory tax rate									21.00%	35.00%
As previously reported | ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Selling, operating and administrative expenses										$ 107,268	$ 88,213
Provision for income taxes										55,576	15,273
Net income										35,179	47,226
Net income: Non-controlling interest										22,364	24,830
Net income attributable to RE/MAX Holdings, Inc.										$ 12,815	$ 22,396
Net income attributable to RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. per share of Class A common stock
Basic										$ 0.72	$ 1.27
Diluted										$ 0.72	$ 1.27
Adjustments | ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Selling, operating and administrative expenses										$ (322)	$ (176)
Provision for income taxes										1,471	(106)
Net income										(3,364)	(378)
Net income: Non-controlling interest										(787)	(203)
Net income attributable to RE/MAX Holdings, Inc.										$ (2,577)	$ (175)
Net income attributable to RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. per share of Class A common stock
Basic										$ (0.14)	$ (0.01)
Diluted										$ (0.14)	$ (0.01)
Franchise sales and other revenue
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue									$ 28,757	$ 22,452	$ 24,471
Franchise sales and other revenue | As previously reported | ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue										24,667	25,131
Franchise sales and other revenue | Adjustments | ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue										(2,215)	(660)
Annual dues
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Total revenue									$ 35,894	$ 33,767	$ 32,653