We combine the results of our earlier study of the UV characteristics of 18 classical novae ( CNe ) with data from the literature and with the recent precise distance determinations from the Gaia satellite to investigate the statistical properties of old novae .
All final parameters for the sample include a detailed treatment of the errors and their propagation .
The physical properties reported here include the absolute magnitudes at maximum and minimum , a new maximum magnitude versus rate of decline ( MMRD ) relation , and the inclination-corrected 1100–6000-Å accretion disk luminosity .
Most importantly , these data have allowed us to derive a homogenous set of accretion rates in quiescence for the 18 novae .

All novae in the sample were super-Eddington during outburst , with an average absolute magnitude at maximum of -7.5 \pm 1.0 .
The average absolute magnitude at minimum corrected for inclination is 3.9 \pm 1.0 .
The median mass accretion rate is \log \dot { M } _ { 1 M \odot } = -8.52 ( using 1 M \odot as WD mass for all novae ) or \log \dot { M } _ { M _ { WD } } = -8.48 ( using the individual WD masses ) .
These values are lower than those assumed in studies of CNe evolution and appear to attenuate the need for a hibernation hypothesis to interpret the nova phenomenon .

We identified a number of correlations among the physical parameters of the quiescent and eruptive phases , some already known but others new and even surprising .
Several quantities correlate with the speed class t _ { 3 } including , unexpectedly , the mass accretion rate ( \dot { M ) } .
This rate correlates also with the absolute magnitude at minimum corrected for inclination , and with the outburst amplitude , providing new and simple ways to estimate \dot { M } through its functional dependence on ( more ) easily observed quantities .

There is no correlation between \dot { M } and the orbital period .