As the economy teeters, many Americans are in 'wait and see' mode on big life decisions like moving and having kids

• For the first time in 30 years, more Americans moved out of apartments than moved in.
• It's one of many signs of a "wait and see" economy, in which Americans postpone big life decisions.

As fears of a recession rise, the "YOLO" economy is quickly becoming the "wait and see" economy.

On Tuesday, RealPage reported that US apartment demand turned negative between July and September — meaning more renters moved out of apartments than moved in — for the first time in 30 years' worth of data.

Higher rents and lower incomes didn't explain the fall in demand, wrote RealPage economist Jay Parsons. Instead, he thinks "low consumer confidence" is causing some young Americans — who might have otherwise moved out of their parents' homes or decoupled from their roommates — to stay right where they are.

"Inflation and economic uncertainty are having a freezing effect on major housing decisions," he wrote. "When people are uncertain, human nature is to go into 'wait and see' mode."

As the Federal Reserve continues to raise rates to cool prices, and the US' economic outlook looks increasingly uncertain, this "wait and see" mode is extending beyond the rental market. Demand for houses and cars have slowed, job-switching isn't as popular as it once was, and big life decisions like moving and starting a family are being delayed.

Americans are putting off buying homes, quitting their jobs, moving, and having kids

Prospective homebuyers are waiting for prices to fall enough to offset the steady increase in mortgage rates — evidenced by the housing market's quickly cooling demand. As Bloomberg detailed, a borrower that locked in a 3% mortgage rate in 2021 could buy a $758,572 home with a payment of $2,500 per month. With the 30-year fixed rate now near 7%, a $2,500 monthly payment would only fetch a $476,425 home.

Economic pressures are also beginning to weigh on big ticket items like car purchases, which — like housing — have been dampened by high prices and interest rates. While some consumers may be waiting for prices to fall, others running low on cash may decide it's the wrong time to buy. Per recent estimates, Americans have spent down roughly 31% of the savings they built up during the height of the pandemic as inflation eats away at wage gains.

Americans are entering "wait and see" mode when it comes to their jobs as well.

Many workers that might have joined the "Great Resignation" a year ago are deciding to wait things out today. Workers have quit at lower rates in recent months, a sign that the labor market isn't as hot as it once was. And with job openings falling 1.1 million in August — the largest decline since the first months of the pandemic — job seekers may soon find there isn't a deluge of offers waiting for them. As the economy slows, and the Fed projects that the unemployment rate will need to rise to cool inflation, Americans may increasingly value the job security of their current roles.

In times of economic uncertainty, there's also evidence Americans are more likely to put off big life decisions like moving or having kids.

In 2021, as the pandemic continued to impact the global economy, 8.4% of Americans lived in a different residence than they did a year ago, the lowest "mover rate" since at least 1948. This trend could persist as economic conditions deteriorate — a NCBI paper found that "overall migration rates" declined during the Great Recession.

There's also precedent for people putting off having children during periods of "political and social unrest," Northwestern associate sociology professor Christine Percheski previously told Insider.

Births fell 9% during the Great Recession, per Brookings, resulting in roughly 400,000 fewer babies than there would otherwise have been. And many experts think the pandemic contributed to the US fertility rate remaining near a record-low in 2021.

"Young couples have said, 'Give me a rain check, I don't want the baby now because there's too much uncertainty,'" Wharton professor Mauro Guillén told Insider last year.

Like the mover rate, the birth rate has been trending down for decades. But if a recession extends this period of uncertainty in the US even further, this "rain check" on children could last ever longer.