HIGHER: The turmoil in the Mideast is...

HIGHER: The turmoil in the Mideast is having a variety of consequences in Orange County. . . . One example: upheavals in the financial markets (D1) have led to sharply higher interest rates for home buyers. The fixed mortgage rate is up about 1/2% to around 10 1/2%. Variable-rate loans seem unaffected so far. . . . Some buyers got in just under the wire last week, says Household Bank in Santa Ana, which had a three-day run of borrowers “wanting to lock in before the rates change any more.� . . . Local bankers say they can only guess what lies ahead. “When the President said troops were going to Saudi Arabia, it changed everything,� said one loan officer.