29 annual report 2012 duke realty corporation | | those indirect costs not allocated to or absorbed by these operations are charged to general and administrative expenses . we regularly review our total overhead cost structure relative to our leasing , development and construction volume and adjust the level of total overhead , generally through changes in our level of staffing in various functional departments , as necessary in order to control overall general and administrative expense . general and administrative expenses increased from $ 43.1 million in 2011 to $ 46.4 million in 2012 . the following table sets forth the factors that led to the increase in general and administrative expenses from 2011 to 2012 ( in millions ) : .

$ 43.1: reduction to overall pool of overhead costs ( 1 ): -11
increased absorption of costs by wholly-owned development and leasing activities ( 2 ): -14.7
reduced allocation of costs to service operations and rental operations ( 3 ): 29
general and administrative expenses - 2012: 46.4

( 1 ) we reduced our total pool of overhead costs , through staff reductions and other measures , as the result of changes in our product mix and anticipated future levels of third-party construction , leasing , management and other operational activities . ( 2 ) we increased our focus on development of wholly-owned properties , and also significantly increased our leasing activity during 2012 , which resulted in an increased absorption of overhead costs . we capitalized $ 30.4 million and $ 20.0 million of our total overhead costs to leasing and development , respectively , for consolidated properties during 2012 , compared to capitalizing $ 25.3 million and $ 10.4 million of such costs , respectively , for 2011 . combined overhead costs capitalized to leasing and development totaled 31.1% ( 31.1 % ) and 20.6% ( 20.6 % ) of our overall pool of overhead costs for 2012 and 2011 , respectively . ( 3 ) the reduction in the allocation of overhead costs to service operations and rental operations resulted from reduced volumes of third-party construction projects as well as due to reducing our overall investment in office properties , which are more management intensive . interest expense interest expense allocable to continuing operations increased from $ 220.5 million in 2011 to $ 245.2 million in 2012 . we had $ 47.4 million of interest expense allocated to discontinued operations in 2011 , associated with the properties that were disposed of during 2011 , compared to the allocation of only $ 3.1 million of interest expense to discontinued operations for 2012 . total interest expense , combined for continuing and discontinued operations , decreased from $ 267.8 million in 2011 to $ 248.3 million in 2012 . the reduction in total interest expense was primarily the result of a lower weighted average borrowing rate in 2012 , due to refinancing some higher rate bonds in 2011 and 2012 , as well as a slight decrease in our average level of borrowings compared to 2011 . also , due to an increase in properties under development from 2011 , which met the criteria for capitalization of interest and were financed in part by common equity issuances during 2012 , a $ 5.0 million increase in capitalized interest also contributed to the decrease in total interest expense in 2012 . acquisition-related activity during 2012 , we recognized approximately $ 4.2 million in acquisition costs , compared to $ 2.3 million of such costs in 2011 . the increase from 2011 to 2012 is the result of acquiring a higher volume of medical office properties , where a higher level of acquisition costs are incurred than other property types , in 2012 . during 2011 , we also recognized a $ 1.1 million gain related to the acquisition of a building from one of our 50%-owned unconsolidated joint ventures . discontinued operations subject to certain criteria , the results of operations for properties sold during the year to unrelated parties , or classified as held-for-sale at the end of the period , are required to be classified as discontinued operations . the property specific components of earnings that are classified as discontinued operations include rental revenues , rental expenses , real estate taxes , allocated interest expense and depreciation expense , as well as the net gain or loss on the disposition of properties . the operations of 150 buildings are currently classified as discontinued operations . these 150 buildings consist of 114 office , 30 industrial , four retail , and two medical office properties . as a result , we classified operating losses , before gain on sales , of $ 1.5 million , $ 1.8 million and $ 7.1 million in discontinued operations for the years ended december 31 , 2012 , 2011 and 2010 , respectively . of these properties , 28 were sold during 2012 , 101 properties were sold during 2011 and 19 properties were sold during 2010 . the gains on disposal of these properties of $ 13.5 million , $ 100.9 million and $ 33.1 million for the years ended december 31 , 2012 , 2011 and .

Questions:
what was the net difference in general and administrative expenses between 2011 and 2012?
what was the general and administrative expense in 2011?
what was the percent change during the year?

Answers:
3.3
43.1
7.7%