Yeah its 100% location.
We moved Wellington -> Hawkes Bay 7 years ago. Got a larger house, larger garage & doubled the usable section^1^ but spent (slightly) less to buy than what we had just sold.
84m2 2 bed house, 404m2 section, single garage -> 100m2 3 bed house, 640m2 section, double garage.
- Combo of driveways, placement of the buildings and getting a section half as big again.