RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Abstract]
Accounting Changes [Text Block]	RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS EastGroup has evaluated all ASUs recently released by the FASB through the date the financial statements were issued and determined that the following ASUs apply to the Company. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The FASB issued further guidance in ASU 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients, that provides clarifying guidance in certain narrow areas and adds some practical expedients. ASU 2014-09 will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP when it becomes effective. The effective date of ASU 2014-09 was extended by one year by ASU 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date. The new standard is effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method, and the Company is evaluating which transition method it will elect. The Company is also in the process of evaluating the effect that ASU 2014-09 will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures beginning with the Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2018. EastGroup has performed an initial impact assessment and continues to evaluate its revenue streams and the potential impact of the new standard. In particular, the Company is evaluating the impact the new standard will have on revenue streams due under leases that are deemed to be non-lease components, such as common area maintenance reimbursements. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities,which requires public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes, requires separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset, and eliminates the requirement for public business entities to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized costs on the balance sheet. EastGroup plans to adopt ASU 2016-01 effective January 1, 2018. The Company does not anticipate the adoption of ASU 2016-01 will have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires lessees to recognize the following for all leases (with the exception of short-term leases) at the commencement date: (1) a lease liability, which is a lessee's obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis; and (2) a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee's right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. The Company is a lessee on a limited number of leases, including office and ground leases, and the Company anticipates the related impact of ASU 2016-02 will not be material to its overall financial condition and results of operations. Lessor accounting is largely unchanged under ASU 2016-02. The Company's primary revenue is rental income; as such, the Company is a lessor on a significant number of leases. The Company is continuing to evaluate the potential impacts of the ASU and believes it will continue to account for its leases in substantially the same manner. The most significant change for the Company related to lessor accounting relates to the new standard's narrow definition of initial direct costs for leases; the new definition will result in certain costs (primarily legal costs related to lease negotiations) being expensed rather than capitalized upon adoption of the new standard. Public business entities are required to apply the amendments in ASU 2016-02 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. EastGroup plans to adopt ASU 2016-02 effective January 1, 2019. The Company is continuing the process of evaluating and quantifying the effect that ASU 2016-02 will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures beginning with the Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2019. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The ASU is intended to improve the accounting for share-based payments and affects all organizations that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. Several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment awards are simplified with the ASU, including income tax consequences, classification of awards as equity or liabilities and classification on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. ASU 2016-09 is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those fiscal years; early adoption is permitted. EastGroup adopted ASU 2016-09 effective January 1, 2017. As a result, the Company elected to reverse compensation cost of any forfeited awards when they occur and will continue to classify the cash flows resulting from remitting cash to the tax authorities for the payment of taxes on the vesting of share-based payment awards as a financing activity on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. In addition, upon vesting of share-based payments, the Company will withhold up to the maximum individual statutory tax rate and classify the entire award as equity. The adoption of ASU 2016-09 did not have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses certain cash flow issues, including how debt prepayments or debt extinguishment costs and distributions received from equity method investees are presented. ASU 2016-15 is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, and the Company has adopted ASU 2016-15 effective January 1, 2017. The adoption of ASU 2016-15 did not have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business. The ASU is intended to provide a new framework for determining whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. Under the new guidance, companies are required to utilize an initial screening test to determine whether substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired (or disposed of) is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets; if so, the set is not a business. The Company has determined that some of its real estate property acquisitions may be considered to be acquisitions of groups of similar identifiable assets; therefore, the acquisitions are not considered to be acquisitions of a business. ASU 2017-01 is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years; early adoption is permitted and may be applied to transactions that have not been reported in financial statements that have been issued or made available for issuance. EastGroup adopted ASU 2017-01 for transactions beginning on October 1, 2016. As a result, the Company has capitalized acquisition costs related to its fourth quarter 2016 and first quarter 2017 acquisitions as they were determined not to be acquisitions of a business. In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Others (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, which simplifies the measurement of goodwill impairment by eliminating the requirement of performing a hypothetical purchase price allocation to measure goodwill impairment. ASU 2017-04 is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, and the Company has adopted ASU 2017-04 effective January 1, 2017, and will apply the new guidance for goodwill impairment tests with measurement dates after January 1, 2017. The adoption of ASU 2017-04 did not have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

EastGroup has evaluated all ASUs recently released by the FASB through the date the financial statements were issued and determined that the following ASUs apply to the Company.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The FASB issued further guidance in ASU 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients, that provides clarifying guidance in certain narrow areas and adds some practical expedients. ASU 2014-09 will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance in U.S. GAAP when it becomes effective. The effective date of ASU 2014-09 was extended by one year by ASU 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date. The new standard is effective for the Company on January 1, 2018. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method, and the Company is evaluating which transition method it will elect. The Company is also in the process of evaluating the effect that ASU 2014-09 will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures beginning with the Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2018. EastGroup has performed an initial impact assessment and continues to evaluate its revenue streams and the potential impact of the new standard. In particular, the Company is evaluating the impact the new standard will have on revenue streams due under leases that are deemed to be non-lease components, such as common area maintenance reimbursements.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities,which requires public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes, requires separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset, and eliminates the requirement for public business entities to disclose the methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized costs on the balance sheet. EastGroup plans to adopt ASU 2016-01 effective January 1, 2018. The Company does not anticipate the adoption of ASU 2016-01 will have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires lessees to recognize the following for all leases (with the exception of short-term leases) at the commencement date: (1) a lease liability, which is a lessee's obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, measured on a discounted basis; and (2) a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee's right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. The Company is a lessee on a limited number of leases, including office and ground leases, and the Company anticipates the related impact of ASU 2016-02 will not be material to its overall financial condition and results of operations. Lessor accounting is largely unchanged under ASU 2016-02. The Company's primary revenue is rental income; as such, the Company is a lessor on a significant number of leases. The Company is continuing to evaluate the potential impacts of the ASU and believes it will continue to account for its leases in substantially the same manner. The most significant change for the Company related to lessor accounting relates to the new standard's narrow definition of initial direct costs for leases; the new definition will result in certain costs (primarily legal costs related to lease negotiations) being expensed rather than capitalized upon adoption of the new standard. Public business entities are required to apply the amendments in ASU 2016-02 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. EastGroup plans to adopt ASU 2016-02 effective January 1, 2019. The Company is continuing the process of evaluating and quantifying the effect that ASU 2016-02 will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures beginning with the Form 10-Q for the period ending March 31, 2019.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The ASU is intended to improve the accounting for share-based payments and affects all organizations that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. Several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment awards are simplified with the ASU, including income tax consequences, classification of awards as equity or liabilities and classification on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. ASU 2016-09 is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those fiscal years; early adoption is permitted. EastGroup adopted ASU 2016-09 effective January 1, 2017. As a result, the Company elected to reverse compensation cost of any forfeited awards when they occur and will continue to classify the cash flows resulting from remitting cash to the tax authorities for the payment of taxes on the vesting of share-based payment awards as a financing activity on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. In addition, upon vesting of share-based payments, the Company will withhold up to the maximum individual statutory tax rate and classify the entire award as equity. The adoption of ASU 2016-09 did not have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses certain cash flow issues, including how debt prepayments or debt extinguishment costs and distributions received from equity method investees are presented. ASU 2016-15 is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, and the Company has adopted ASU 2016-15 effective January 1, 2017. The adoption of ASU 2016-15 did not have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business. The ASU is intended to provide a new framework for determining whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. Under the new guidance, companies are required to utilize an initial screening test to determine whether substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired (or disposed of) is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets; if so, the set is not a business. The Company has determined that some of its real estate property acquisitions may be considered to be acquisitions of groups of similar identifiable assets; therefore, the acquisitions are not considered to be acquisitions of a business. ASU 2017-01 is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years; early adoption is permitted and may be applied to transactions that have not been reported in financial statements that have been issued or made available for issuance. EastGroup adopted ASU 2017-01 for transactions beginning on October 1, 2016. As a result, the Company has capitalized acquisition costs related to its fourth quarter 2016 and first quarter 2017 acquisitions as they were determined not to be acquisitions of a business.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Others (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment, which simplifies the measurement of goodwill impairment by eliminating the requirement of performing a hypothetical purchase price allocation to measure goodwill impairment. ASU 2017-04 is effective for public business entities for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, and the Company has adopted ASU 2017-04 effective January 1, 2017, and will apply the new guidance for goodwill impairment tests with measurement dates after January 1, 2017. The adoption of ASU 2017-04 did not have a material impact on the Company's financial condition or results of operations.