KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Developers, fund managers and lenders consider Malaysian politics as having the least impact on commercial real estate investment sentiment this year, a survey by property consultancy Knight Frank Malaysia has revealed.

The global firm’s Malaysia Commercial Real Estate Investment Sentiment Survey 2015 revealed that rising interest rates and capital costs, as well as the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) next month, were deemed instead to have the most impact on commercial property investment.

“Contrary to popular belief, the Malaysian political scene is considered to be the least important factor in having an impact on the commercial investment sentiment in 2015,” Knight Frank said said in a statement today.

The 13-party Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition maintained its grip on power in the 13th general election two years ago in 2013, but lost the popular vote to the three-party Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition bloc.

The Knight Frank survey showed that just four per cent of those polled believe that Malaysian politics affect commercial real estate investment sentiment, compared to 30 per cent and 26 per cent respectively that cited increasing interest rates and the scheduled implementation of the consumption tax.

Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle was considered the most attractive place in Malaysia for commercial property investment this year at 57 per cent, followed by the Klang Valley at 30 per cent.

A total of 57 per cent ranked Penang as the third most attractive region for investing in commercial real estate, while 87 per cent and 61 per cent marked Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and Johor or the Iskandar region as their fourth and fifth preference respectively.

The mass rapid transit (MRT) project in the Klang Valley was considered the most important factor favouring the commercial property market at 81 per cent.

However, 74 per cent of those polled said a poor yield or return was the main risk that could hinder investment in the commercial property market this year.