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 ) : .

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

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Question: what was the 2019 rate of decrease in estimated interest expense payments?
Answer: 3.9%
Calculation: divide(subtract(226815, 218019), 226815)