MAA Summary of Discontinued Operations (Detail) - Parent Company [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Discontinued Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Rental revenues	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 76
Other revenues	0	0	0	10
Total revenues	0	0	0	86
Property operating expenses	0	8	0	67
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0	42
Interest expense and other	0	0	0	36
Total expenses	0	8	0	145
Income from discontinued operations before gain on sale	0	(8)	0	(59)
Net loss on insurance and other settlement proceeds on discontinued operations	0	3	0	0
Gain on sale of discontinued operations	0	(103)	0	5,378
Income from discontinued operations	0	(108)	0	5,319
Continuing Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Attributable to MAA	91,734	67,079	289,300	108,420
Attributable to noncontrolling interest	5,094	3,748	16,078	6,080
Income from continuing operations	96,828	70,827	305,378	114,500
Discontinued Operations [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Attributable to MAA	0	(103)	0	5,035
Attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	(5)	0	284
Income from discontinued operations	$ 0	$ (108)	$ 0	$ 5,319