You must craft a personal story that exhibits your interest and passion for real estate in order to answer the question "why real estate" in an interview.
To prepare for this question, it is important to list the reasons you want to be involved in real estate. It could be because of your love of residential homes, or you think it would be a prosperous enterprise for you, but whatever the reason(s), it is a good idea to get it down on paper prior to the interview.
Then it would be advantageous to tie in a personal story that illustrates your passion or interest in real estate. Try rehearsing the story, but don't memorize it because during the interview, you want it to come out sounding fresh, candid, and authentic.
This story can be about your previous related work experiences or something more personal, like an anecdote or trend from your upbringing that applies to the question.
Another option is to go with the positive impacts that real estate has on society. Though this isn't the same thing as telling a personal anecdote, you should still approach this as a kind of story. You may talk about how this industry affects and changes people's lives for the better or how innovations in the industry are leading to some specific benefit.
Whatever route you choose to go, be sure that you are being honest about the reasons you want to be in real estate, as authenticity is maybe the most important quality to have when answering this question.