True. I don't think we can ever avoid that - city people moving out will raise prices elsewhere, but 1. there's a limit to it - it's a relatively small increase spread across many towns 2. small towns can grow aggressively around the current centres. Wang for example was planning for up to +23% 20y change in population until 2031 with all the related development areas and infrastructure. Many towns an do the same and will still be more attractive than the far suburbs of Melbourne (north beyond the airport).

So basically, as long as regional towns keep up with development and infrastructure, the overall result may not be a crash, but rather slow exodus from the cities. Now if only transport/trains would keep up with the times...