Fair value of financial instruments - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Mortgage Loans
Fair Value Measurement Inputs and Valuation Techniques [Line Items]
Net (losses) gains from fair value changes of mortgage loans	$ (2,861)	$ (4,539)	$ 9,111
GNMA
Fair Value Measurement Inputs and Valuation Techniques [Line Items]
Delinquent GNMA loans that had been previously sold	$ 51,705	$ 67,362

Amount of principal due on delinquent mortgage loan within investment in mortgage loan on real estate by entity with substantial portion of business acquiring and holding investment real estate or interest in real estate.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 12
-Paragraph Column H
-Subsection 29

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 948
-SubTopic 310
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-29(Column H))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6589523&loc=d3e617274-123014

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

For each line item in the statement of financial position, the amounts of gains and losses from fair value changes included in earnings.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 825
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 30
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75031198&loc=d3e14172-108612

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