Real Estate Securities - Fair Values of Real Estate Securities by Collateral Type and Entity (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]
Trading		$ 125,667	$ 860,540
Available-for-sale		218,458	239,334
Total Real Estate Securities	[1]	$ 344,125	$ 1,099,874

[1] Our consolidated balance sheets include assets of consolidated variable interest entities (“VIEs”) that can only be used to settle obligations of these VIEs and liabilities of consolidated VIEs for which creditors do not have recourse to Redwood Trust, Inc. or its affiliates. At December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, assets of consolidated VIEs totaled $8,141,069 and $11,931,869, respectively. At December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, liabilities of consolidated VIEs totaled $7,148,414 and $10,717,072, respectively. See Note 4 for further discussion.