Property investors returned to the market in a big way in 2023 as rising property prices and tightening rental vacancy rates lured investors back. Despite a 1.3% decline in the value of new investor loans during December, over the year investor lending surged 20.4% to sit at the highest level since August 2021. By comparison, owner occupier lending fell 5.6% during the month, sitting 7.4% higher compared to a year earlier, according to the latest lending data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. ABS head of finance statistics Mish Tan said investors now accounted for more than one third of…