Financial report context:
restrictive covenants the terms of the 2017 credit facility and certain of our senior unsecured notes include certain restrictions and covenants which may limit , among other things , our ability to pay dividends , make certain types of investments , incur additional indebtedness , incur liens and enter into negative pledge agreements and dispose of assets , and which require compliance with financial ratios relating to the maximum ratio of total indebtedness to total asset value , a minimum ratio of ebitda to fixed charges , a maximum ratio of secured indebtedness to total asset value and a maximum ratio of unsecured indebtedness to unencumbered asset value . the dividend restriction referred to above provides that , we will not during any time when a default is continuing , make distributions with respect to common stock or other equity interests , except to enable the company to continue to qualify as a reit for federal income tax purposes . as of december a031 , 2017 and 2016 , we were in compliance with all such covenants . junior subordinated deferrable interest debentures in june a02005 , the company and the operating partnership issued $ 100.0 a0million in unsecured trust preferred securities through a newly formed trust , sl a0green capital trust i , or the trust , which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the operating partnership . the securities mature in 2035 and bear interest at a floating rate of 125 a0basis points over the three-month libor . interest payments may be deferred for a period of up to eight consecutive quarters if the operating partnership exercises its right to defer such payments . the trust preferred securities are redeemable at the option of the operating partnership , in whole or in part , with no prepayment premium . we do not consolidate the trust even though it is a variable interest entity as we are not the primary beneficiary . because the trust is not consolidated , we have recorded the debt on our consolidated balance sheets and the related payments are classified as interest expense . interest rate risk we are exposed to changes in interest rates primarily from our variable rate debt . our exposure to interest rate fluctuations are managed through either the use of interest rate derivative instru- ments and/or through our variable rate debt and preferred equity investments . a hypothetical 100 a0basis point increase in interest rates along the entire interest rate curve for a02017 would increase our consolidated annual interest cost , net of interest income from variable rate debt and preferred equity investments , by $ 2.7 a0mil- lion and would increase our share of joint venture annual interest cost by $ 17.2 a0million . at december a031 , 2017 , 61.5% ( 61.5 % ) of our $ 2.1 a0bil- lion debt and preferred equity portfolio is indexed to libor . we recognize most derivatives on the balance sheet at fair value . derivatives that are not hedges are adjusted to fair value through income . if a derivative is considered a hedge , depending on the nature of the hedge , changes in the fair value of the derivative will either be offset against the change in fair value of the hedged asset , liability , or firm commitment through earnings , or recog- nized in other comprehensive income until the hedged item is recognized in earnings . the ineffective portion of a derivative 2019s change in fair value is immediately recognized in a0earnings . our long-term debt of $ 4.3 a0billion bears interest at fixed rates , and therefore the fair value of these instruments is affected by changes in the market interest rates . our variable rate debt and variable rate joint venture debt as of december a031 , 2017 bore interest based on a spread of libor plus 100 a0basis points to libor plus 415 a0basis points . contractual obligations the combined aggregate principal maturities of mortgages and other loans payable , the 2017 credit facility , senior unsecured notes ( net of discount ) , trust preferred securities , our share of joint venture debt , including as-of-right extension options and put options , estimated interest expense , and our obligations under our capital lease and ground leases , as of december a031 , 2017 are as follows ( in a0thousands ) : .

Financial table:
2018: property mortgages and other loans; 2019: $ 153593; 2020: $ 42289; 2021: $ 703018; 2022: $ 11656; thereafter: $ 208003; total: $ 1656623; column_8: $ 2775182
2018: mra facilities; 2019: 90809; 2020: 2014; 2021: 2014; 2022: 2014; thereafter: 2014; total: 2014; column_8: 90809
2018: revolving credit facility; 2019: 2014; 2020: 2014; 2021: 2014; 2022: 2014; thereafter: 2014; total: 40000; column_8: 40000
2018: unsecured term loans; 2019: 2014; 2020: 2014; 2021: 2014; 2022: 2014; thereafter: 2014; total: 1500000; column_8: 1500000
2018: senior unsecured notes; 2019: 250000; 2020: 2014; 2021: 250000; 2022: 2014; thereafter: 800000; total: 100000; column_8: 1400000
2018: trust preferred securities; 2019: 2014; 2020: 2014; 2021: 2014; 2022: 2014; thereafter: 2014; total: 100000; column_8: 100000
2018: capital lease; 2019: 2387; 2020: 2411; 2021: 2620; 2022: 2794; thereafter: 2794; total: 819894; column_8: 832900
2018: ground leases; 2019: 31049; 2020: 31066; 2021: 31436; 2022: 31628; thereafter: 29472; total: 703254; column_8: 857905
2018: estimated interest expense; 2019: 226815; 2020: 218019; 2021: 184376; 2022: 163648; thereafter: 155398; total: 281694; column_8: 1229950
2018: joint venture debt; 2019: 200250; 2020: 717682; 2021: 473809; 2022: 449740; thereafter: 223330; total: 2119481; column_8: 4184292
2018: total; 2019: $ 954903; 2020: $ 1011467; 2021: $ 1645259; 2022: $ 659466; thereafter: $ 1418997; total: $ 7320946; column_8: $ 13011038

Additional report context:
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Question: what was the 2019 rate of decrease in estimated interest expense payments?
Answer: 3.9%