Loans (Details 7) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	$ 78,698	$ 81,940
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(21,397)	(17,830)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	57,301	64,110
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	54,997
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	120
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	55,106	64,232
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	313	722
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	17,768	24,607
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	(227)	(1,611)
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	17,541	22,996
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	1,699	1,608	2,316
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	24,392
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	194
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	24,479	20,432
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded	387	563
Unpaid principal balance	96,466	106,547
Partial Charge Offs To Date	(21,624)	(19,441)
Recorded investment	74,842	87,106
Quarter average recorded investment	79,389
Quarter interest income recognized	314
Year to date average recorded investment	79,585	84,664
Year to date interest income recognized	700	1,285
Commercial Real Estate [Member]
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	30,821	36,251
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(10,078)	(7,334)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	20,743	28,917
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	22,270
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	66
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	23,188	26,846
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	204	358
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	12,394	10,710
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	0	(330)
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	12,394	10,380
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	672	655	417
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	11,841
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	147
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	12,126	8,346
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded	294	420
Unpaid principal balance	43,215	46,961
Partial Charge Offs To Date	(10,078)	(7,664)
Recorded investment	33,137	39,297
Quarter average recorded investment	34,111
Quarter interest income recognized	213
Year to date average recorded investment	35,314	35,192
Year to date interest income recognized	498	788
Commercial and Industrial [Member]
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	4,034	4,742
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(948)	(1,341)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	3,086	3,401
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	2,860
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	4
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	2,449	2,998
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	26	76
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	815	498
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	0	0
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	815	498
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	524	114
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	792
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	0
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	544	1,067
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded		14
Commercial Line Of Credit [Member]
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	1,070	957
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(131)	(52)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	939	905
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	457
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	3
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	501	1,427
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	4	0
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	397	99
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	0	0
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	397	99
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	167	99
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	695
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	0
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	571	482
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded		0
Residential Construction [Member]
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	17,466	17,874
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(2,040)	(2,443)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	15,426	15,431
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	13,567
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	24
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	13,039	15,241
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	42	190
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	646	1,348
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	0	(160)
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	646	1,188
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	9	102
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	2,298
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	4
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	2,751	2,602
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded	7	17
Residential Lots [Member]
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	15,075	6,853
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(4,999)	(2,803)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	10,076	4,050
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	7,376
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	12
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	7,680	10,387
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	12	17
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	0	9,080
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	0	(1,035)
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	0	8,045
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	0	161
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	5,710
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	5
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	4,825	3,843
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded	11	32
Residential Raw Land [Member]
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	2,716	3,808
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(2,602)	(2,324)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	114	1,484
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	115
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	1
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	117	1,467
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	3	0
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	0	0
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	0	0
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	0	0
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	0
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	0
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	272	144
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded		0
Home Equity Line Of Credit [Member]
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	435	954
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(32)	(32)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	403	922
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	918
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	0
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	878	655
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded		0
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	1,007	1,033
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	(227)	0
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	1,007	1,033
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	272	387	315
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	926
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	0
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	911	1,027
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded		0
Unpaid principal balance	1,442	1,987
Partial Charge Offs To Date	(32)	(32)
Recorded investment	1,410	1,955
Quarter average recorded investment	1,844
Quarter interest income recognized	0
Year to date average recorded investment	1,789	1,682
Year to date interest income recognized	0	0
Consumer Loan [Member]
Unpaid principal balance with no related allowance recorded	7,081	10,501
Partial charge offs to date with no related allowance recorded	(567)	(1,501)
Recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	6,514	9,000
Related Allowance Not Recorded	0	0
Quarter average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	7,434
Quarter interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	10
Year to date average recorded investment with no related allowance recorded	7,254	5,211
Year to date interest income recognized with no related allowance recorded	22	81
Unpaid principal balance with an allowance recorded	2,509	1,839
Partial charge offs to date with an allowance recorded	(227)	(86)
Recorded investment with an allowance recorded	2,282	1,753
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	52	90	480
Quarter average recorded investment with an allowance recorded	2,130
Quarter interest income recognized with an allowance recorded	38
Year to date average recorded investment with an related allowance recorded	2,479	2,921
Year to date interest income recognized with an related allowance recorded	75	80
Unpaid principal balance	9,590	12,340
Partial Charge Offs To Date	(794)	(1,587)
Recorded investment	8,796	10,753
Quarter average recorded investment	9,564
Quarter interest income recognized	48
Year to date average recorded investment	9,733	8,132
Year to date interest income recognized	97	161
Commercial [Member]
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	691	213	350
Unpaid principal balance	6,316	6,296
Partial Charge Offs To Date	(1,079)	(1,393)
Recorded investment	5,237	4,903
Quarter average recorded investment	4,804
Quarter interest income recognized	7
Year to date average recorded investment	4,065	5,974
Year to date interest income recognized	30	90
Residential Real Estate [Member]
Impaired Financing Receivable, Related Allowance	12	263	754
Unpaid principal balance	35,903	38,963
Partial Charge Offs To Date	(9,641)	(8,765)
Recorded investment	26,262	30,198
Quarter average recorded investment	29,066
Quarter interest income recognized	46
Year to date average recorded investment	28,684	33,684
Year to date interest income recognized	$ 75	$ 256

SOUTHERN COMMUNITY FINANCIAL CORP 10-Q