MAA Summary of Discontinued Operations (Detail) - Parent Company [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014
Discontinued Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Rental revenues	$ 0	$ 6	$ 0	$ 76
Other revenues	0	0	0	10
Total revenues	0	6	0	86
Property operating expenses	0	10	0	59
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0	42
Interest expense and other	0	0	0	36
Total expenses	0	10	0	137
Income from discontinued operations before gain on sale	0	(4)	0	(51)
Net loss on insurance and other settlement proceeds on discontinued operations	0	(1)	0	(3)
Gain on sale of discontinued operations	0	0	0	5,481
Income from discontinued operations	0	(5)	0	5,427
Continuing Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Attributable to MAA	136,299	31,618	197,566	41,341
Attributable to noncontrolling interest	7,574	1,773	10,984	2,332
Income from continuing operations	143,873	33,391	208,550	43,673
Discontinued Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Attributable to MAA	0	(5)	0	5,138
Attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0	0	289
Income from discontinued operations	$ 0	$ (5)	$ 0	$ 5,427