Selected quarterly financial data (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended										12 Months Ended
	Jun. 17, 2016	Oct. 31, 2016	Jul. 31, 2016		Apr. 30, 2016	Jan. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015		Jul. 31, 2015	Apr. 30, 2015	Jan. 31, 2015	Oct. 31, 2016	Oct. 31, 2015	Oct. 31, 2014
Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]
Revenue		$ 12,176	$ 11,590		$ 11,064	$ 11,424	$ 11,108		$ 11,143	$ 11,252	$ 11,280	$ 46,254	$ 44,783	$ 42,430
Expenses		12,511	10,133	[1]	10,130	10,381	11,027	[2]	10,086	10,791	9,967	43,155	41,871
Net income (loss)		(335)	1,457		934	1,043	81		1,057	461	1,313	3,099	2,912	12,164
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests in subsidiaries		283	(211)		(125)	(41)	2		(89)	71	(265)	(94)	(281)	(507)
Net income attributable to common equity		$ (52)	$ 1,246		$ 809	$ 1,002	$ 83		$ 968	$ 532	$ 1,048	$ 3,005	$ 2,631	$ 11,657
Earnings per share - basic and diluted		$ (0.01)	$ 0.18		$ 0.12	$ 0.15	$ 0.02		$ 0.14	$ 0.08	$ 0.15	$ 0.44	$ 0.39	$ 1.69
Dividends declared per share		$ 0.30	$ 0.30		$ 0.30	$ 0.30	$ 0.30		$ 0.30	$ 0.30	$ 0.30	$ 1.20	$ 1.20	$ 1.20
Gain on sale of discontinued operations	$ 300,000													$ 8,734
Gain on sale of discontinued operations, per share effect	$ 0.05
Deferred rents - straight lining	$ 1,100,000											$ (608)	$ 219	$ 93
Straight line rent expense per share	$ 0.15

[1] Includes $0.3M gain on sale of commercial property in Rochelle Park, New Jersey which was sold on June 17, 2016 ($0.05 per share)

[2] Includes $1.1M provision for loss related to straight line rent receivable for Pathmark at the Patchogue, New York store, as a result of the bankruptcy filing of A&P, of which Pathmark is a subsidiary ($0.15 per share)