The Dealmaker: 2/7/2017

Scottsdale among 10 most compassionate cities. “[Y]ou could make the case that the urge to do good is built into the American psyche, whether shoveling an elderly neighbor’s driveway or donating a kidney.” (As opposed to some places where you’d have a hard time finding someone willing to even donate a kidney stone?) Realtor.com ranked the 250 largest cities using the following criteria: Income donated, volunteer rate, the number of people working in social services, percentage of people working for nonprofits, public charities per capita, [and] animal shelters per capita.” http://bit.ly/2ko5JkP

Pollack: Home ownership rises in Phoenix, declines in Tucson. In this post-Super Bowl edition of the Monday Morning Quarterback, the economic field general delivers a couple of ‘4th-quarter’ highlights of his own…  U.S.: Job Gains & Unemployment Rate, Labor Productivity, Manufactured Goods & Inventories, Consumer Spending & Confidence, ISM Indexes, S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index AZ: Case-Shiller Index – Greater Phoenix, Homeownership Rates – Greater Phoenix & Tucson. http://bit.ly/2lkyYlR

Coolidge mayor sees recreational marijuana as future boon to city coffers. “[Mayor Jon Thompson] sees the potential revenue that such businesses could mean for a community looking to generate new revenue and offset the declining sales tax revenue…. ‘[W]e have to find a way to replace lost tax revenue. Every year internet shopping goes up and so that means less people go to the stores and we live off of sales tax revenue here. All cities are having the same issues with the internet.'” http://bit.ly/2kob5MV

Realtors ask Trump to reinstate FHA mortgage insurance premium cut. “The National Association of Realtors believes that the… decision to suspend a reduction in the [MI] premiums [‘has created uncertainty and confusion’ and] will keep as many as 40,000 potential homebuyers from becoming actual homebuyers in 2017…” For more on NAR’s letter to HUD head Ben Carson plus a spirited discussion that follows in the Comments Section, click through to HousingWire. http://bit.ly/2jYUkEk

Everyone suddenly worried about mortgage-bond whale. “The talk [by Fed officials on ‘the need for the central bank to reduce its bond holdings’] has prompted some on Wall Street to suggest the Fed will start its drawdown as soon as this year, [a move] which… could help lift 30-year mortgage rates past 6 percent within three years…” Such an ‘unwinding’ has one industry insider sounding alarm bells and calling it “‘a massive and long-lasting hit’ for the mortgage market.” Bloomberg. http://bit.ly/2jZq55l

Housing demand may keep market afloat, even if rates rise. This report in MarketWatch looks at “new data from Black Knight Financial Services suggest[ing] that demand might be resilient enough to withstand higher borrowing costs in 2017.” http://bit.ly/2jYYDiV

Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2ko3pKt