Same thing in New Zealand. Most people buy manuals. Also, the secondhand vehicle market seems to be much more robust in NZ than the US which explains a preference for manuals as they tend to age a lot better and are easier to service or work on yourself. I was talking to an American cousin a while back and he explained that in his state secondhand vehicles were impractical because the salt used on the roads in the winter drastically reduces the lifespan of any given vehicle. I've owned both and, in the long run, my auto ended up costing me a lot more in terms of servicing and parts replacements.
Got to disagree with you - it's tough to even find manual transmission cars here these days, and they tend to cost more as well (which is just wrong, since auto's are more complex and costly). But maybe that's just Auckland. Most of our second-hand cars are Japanese imports, since we have no local car-making industry anymore.
I'm from Auckland too. I guess my experience has been biased by the fact that I'm only six or so years out of high school. All of my friends have bought secondhand, and the majority seem to be manuals. Most new vehicles (and newer secondhand vehicles) do seem to be autos though so I guess the manual fleet is getting slowly replaced.