Residential Loans - Characteristics of Loans Held-for-Investment (Details) - Held-for-investment at fair value $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021 USD ($) loan	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) loan
Legacy Sequoia
SEC Schedule, 12-29, Real Estate Companies, Investment in Mortgage Loans on Real Estate [Line Items]
Number of loans \| loan	1,733	1,908
Unpaid principal balance	$ 295,368	$ 333,474
Fair value of loans	$ 260,875	$ 285,935
Number of loans in foreclosure \| loan	18	21
Unpaid principal balance of loans in foreclosure	$ 3,830	$ 4,939
Sequoia
SEC Schedule, 12-29, Real Estate Companies, Investment in Mortgage Loans on Real Estate [Line Items]
Number of loans \| loan	2,775	2,177
Unpaid principal balance	$ 2,193,269	$ 1,550,454
Fair value of loans	$ 2,222,553	$ 1,565,322
Number of loans in foreclosure \| loan	3	3
Unpaid principal balance of loans in foreclosure	$ 2,257	$ 2,251
Freddie Mac SLST
SEC Schedule, 12-29, Real Estate Companies, Investment in Mortgage Loans on Real Estate [Line Items]
Number of loans \| loan	12,902	13,605
Unpaid principal balance	$ 2,107,256	$ 2,247,771
Fair value of loans	$ 2,098,624	$ 2,221,153
Number of loans in foreclosure \| loan	308	245
Unpaid principal balance of loans in foreclosure	$ 51,191	$ 38,610
Financing Receivables, Equal to Greater than 90 Days Past Due \| Legacy Sequoia
SEC Schedule, 12-29, Real Estate Companies, Investment in Mortgage Loans on Real Estate [Line Items]
Number of loans with 90+ day delinquencies \| loan	43	52
Fair value of loans with 90+ day delinquencies	$ 14,878	$ 17,285
Financing Receivables, Equal to Greater than 90 Days Past Due \| Sequoia
SEC Schedule, 12-29, Real Estate Companies, Investment in Mortgage Loans on Real Estate [Line Items]
Number of loans with 90+ day delinquencies \| loan	48	94
Fair value of loans with 90+ day delinquencies	$ 38,502	$ 74,742
Financing Receivables, Equal to Greater than 90 Days Past Due \| Freddie Mac SLST
SEC Schedule, 12-29, Real Estate Companies, Investment in Mortgage Loans on Real Estate [Line Items]
Number of loans with 90+ day delinquencies \| loan	1,446	2,110
Fair value of loans with 90+ day delinquencies	$ 261,504	$ 389,245

Fair Value, Option, Loans Held As Assets, Aggregate Amount In Foreclosure

No definition available.

Name:	rwt_FairValueOptionLoansHeldAsAssetsAggregateAmountInForeclosure
Namespace Prefix:	rwt_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Financing Receivable, Number Of Loans In Foreclosure

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rwt_FinancingReceivableNumberOfLoansInForeclosure
Namespace Prefix:	rwt_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Financing Receivable, Number Of Loans Past Due

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rwt_FinancingReceivableNumberOfLoansPastDue
Namespace Prefix:	rwt_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- 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:	srt_MortgageLoansOnRealEstateLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	srt_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of mortgage loans within investment in mortgage loan on real estate by entity with substantial portion of business acquiring and holding investment real estate or interest in real estate.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 12
-Footnote 3
-Subsection 29

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 948
-SubTopic 310
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-29(Footnote 3))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120402547&loc=d3e617274-123014

+ Details

Name:	srt_MortgageLoansOnRealEstateNumberOfLoans
Namespace Prefix:	srt_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This item represents the aggregate fair value of loans held as assets that are 90 days or more past due for which the fair value option has been elected.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 825
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (e)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=123596393&loc=d3e14064-108612

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueOptionLoansHeldAsAssets90DaysOrMorePastDue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, after allowance for credit loss, of financing receivable. Excludes financing receivable covered under loss sharing agreement.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124255953&loc=SL82919230-210447

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(3))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 310
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124259787&loc=d3e4428-111522

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NotesReceivableNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This is the sum of principal amount outstanding for both securitized and unsecuritized loans of all types.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 860
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121570589&loc=d3e107314-111719

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PrincipalAmountOutstandingOnLoansManagedAndSecuritized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableRecordedInvestmentByClassOfFinancingReceivableAxis=rwt_ResidentialLoansHeldForInvestmentAtFairValueMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ConsolidatedEntitiesAxis=rwt_LegacySequoiaSecuritizationEntitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ConsolidatedEntitiesAxis=rwt_SequoiaChoiceSecuritizationEntitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ConsolidatedEntitiesAxis=rwt_FreddieMacSLSTSecuritizationEntitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivablesPeriodPastDueAxis=us-gaap_FinancingReceivablesEqualToGreaterThan90DaysPastDueMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: