Singapore property fund manager ARA Asset Management said on Tuesday it plans to launch country-focused funds for China, India and Japan to take advantage of declining real estate prices that it expects will bottom in 2009.

Each fund will have a minimum of $500 million to invest, Group Chief Executive Officer John Lim told Reuters in an interview.

ARA, partly owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong (Holdings), would alsoconsider taking its listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) private if share prices remain weak, Lim said.

"As a responsible manager, we always explore all options (and) privatisation is one of the options," he said when asked to commentabout the fall in REIT prices.

ARA manages four listed property trusts -- Suntec REIT and Fortune REIT in Singapore, Prosperity REIT in Hong Kong and AmFIRST REIT in Malaysia -- along with several privatelyheld funds.

ARA said its privately held flagship Asia Dragon Fund, which on Monday bought a 51-storey office and retail building in Nanjing, China, for about S$340 million ($232.9 million), has more than $1 billion available for investment. The fund plans to focus on China, Hong Kong and Singapore, fund director Ng Beng Tiong said.