This functionality is sweet, but I find what opentype requested much more useful.
Additionally, the problem here is that we need (Auto) center in the bounding box. Having to manually try to guess the middle of the box is extra work. Using the Scale in Transform is rather different fish altogether, because it uses precise measurements and lacks all the visual control of the Scale Tool.
If you open Illustrator and make a shape you will see that the bounding box always has a center. You can of course change it up like in the Scale Tool, but that auto center is crucial for convenience and precision.
Also good to mention that with any 3D modeling program, such visual scaling of a node from its center is always the norm.
Do you guys have a particular rationale for not having an auto center? I see that this post is 2 years old and feel that this might have been a deliberate decision, but I cannot see why.