The estimated total costs of the project related to the joint venture considered as variable interest entity.

No definition available.

Name:	iret_EstimatedTotalCostsOfJointVentureProject
Namespace Prefix:	iret_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Refers to the number of other partners in a joint venture.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	iret_NumberOfOtherPartnersInJointVenture
Namespace Prefix:	iret_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The percentage of project financed in a joint venture considered as variable interest entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	iret_PercentageOfProjectFinanced
Namespace Prefix:	iret_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Refers to the in-service period of project after which the company will have management and leasing responsibilities.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	iret_ThresholdInServicePeriodOfProject
Namespace Prefix:	iret_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- 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.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of the Variable Interest Entity's (VIE) voting interest owned by (or beneficial interest in) the reporting entity (directly or indirectly).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5A
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=52262685&loc=SL6759159-111685

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityOwnershipPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstatePropertiesAxis=iret_IretMinotApartmentsLlcMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=iret_ThirdPartyDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=iret_DebtFromIretMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityNotPrimaryBeneficiaryMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstatePropertiesAxis=iret_IRET71FranceLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - Variable Interest Entity (Details) $ in Millions			12 Months Ended
	Jun. 12, 2014 USD ($) item	Nov. 27, 2012	Apr. 30, 2016 item
IRET - Minot Apartments, LLC [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership in VIE (in hundredths)			51.00%
IRET - Minot Apartments, LLC [Member] \| Third Party Debt [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Percentage of project financed (in hundredths)		69.00%
IRET - Minot Apartments, LLC [Member] \| Debt from IRET [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Percentage of project financed (in hundredths)		7.00%
IRET - Minot Apartments, LLC [Member] \| Real Estate Development Company [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership in VIE (in hundredths)			49.00%
IRET - 71 France, LLC [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Total estimated cost for joint venture \| $	$ 73.3
Number of other partners in joint venture \| item	2		2
Percentage of ownership in VIE (in hundredths)			52.60%
Threshold in-service period of project			24 months
IRET - 71 France, LLC [Member] \| Third Party Debt [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Percentage of project financed (in hundredths)	69.00%
IRET - 71 France, LLC [Member] \| Debt from IRET [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Percentage of project financed (in hundredths)	7.00%
IRET - 71 France, LLC [Member] \| Real Estate Development Company [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership in VIE (in hundredths)			47.40%