Absolutely true, but you still need a plan for protecting the water lines. You need some kind of underground insulated structure below the frost line that can handle direct dirt contact. Annoyingly concrete remains the best option.

Was recently in a fairly new construction house in a very cold climate state that did not have a full basement below the frost line. There was a partial 8’x8’ corner that sunk down to where the water line came in, but the rest of the footprint was a crawl space. Losing the basement does affect the style of building that is economical to build on top though, mainly due to building codes.

A basement is nice to have if you live in an area with tornados.

I live in an area with freezing weather. The water pipe to my house is just a PVC pipe buried below the frost line, i.e. in a trench about 3 or 4 feet deep. There's no concrete involved.