China's real estate development index, a key barometer of the country's property market, rebounded slightly in August after sliding 14 months in a row, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

The index stood at 94.64 last month, up 0.07 points compared with July. Though it is still below 100, which means the market is still bearish, the rebound indicates that the worst time for property developers is over, said Chang Qing, an analyst at Homelink, a real estate consultancy in Beijing.

Property investment for the first eight months of the year was 4,368.8 billion yuan ($689 billion), up 15.6 percent compared with the same period last year, the NBS said.