Isn’t the price just the desirability factor (on average)? Would be interesting to select areas of desirability and find the cheapest areas that match those criteria.
I think the thing that's maybe novel, though, is that "access to high-paying jobs" has previously been a huge "chunk" of the desirability metric. Now take that away: Is it still worth paying 20x as much on a quotidian basis when two places have the same access to those jobs? Having spent time in both CA and Northeast Ohio: is California nicer? Would I pay maybe 20-30pct more to live there? You bet I would. 2000pct? Keep your needle-littered streets, I'll see you in Cleveland.
In a perfectly efficient market, yes. But many people will remain in one place to be by their family even if the price to desirability ratio is out of whack.