Commercial real estate sales in Polk County continued their steady climb last year out of the dark days of the financial crisis, both in number of transactions and in value, according to Polk County assessor’s records.

Through Dec. 26, there had been 545 transactions worth nearly $468 million, an increase from 508 transactions worth $365 million in 2011.

Not all of those transactions represent “arm’s-length” sales, as the numbers also include deed transfers among related companies. Also included are sales of properties that were acquired by banks from developers and others whose loans soured during the week economy.

Sales hit a low over the last decade in 2010, when 420 transactions had a value of about $261 million. By contrast, 852 deals in 2005 generated $734 million in sales.